


The Final Confrontation

by rdyfrde



Series: Tales of Dracona [4]
Category: Sonata Arctica, Stratovarius
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dragons, Epic Battles, F/M, Gods, M/M, Mages, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-23 09:36:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13187340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rdyfrde/pseuds/rdyfrde
Summary: The most precious thing on Dracona has been stolen by an unknown force. It will take the mightiest of gods to the bravest magic users to get her back. Will they succeed or die trying?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the final story in a series of four stories all in this same universe called Tales of Dracona. All of the stories interconnect and will continue the plot among them.
> 
> Thanks goes out to Lia for encouraging me along the way :)

Marko gave a tired sigh to his lord Tommy.

The past several months saw almost everyone from the outlying lands seek shelter at the fortress. The last war wiped away their towns and they had no idea what had happened as if they were locked away in a coma until Metoes was destroyed.

Once the fortress started to fill to the brim, Tommy ordered Marko and his men to help rebuild towns close to the fortress again. That way the people could have their homes once more and not be inside the already full fortress.

The next six months amounted to rebuilding the towns and helping the people move into them. For some reason that Tommy couldn't figure out, the land started to revert to what it was with trees, lakes, and areas for food to be grown. 

When they first returned to the fortress after the war, they had enough food to last several months. They wondered how they were going to get more and then the fruit trees started to grow again and bear fruit. Potatoes and root vegetables started to grow on the other side of the fortress and Henkka had plenty of herbs to give them flavor.

After a year of being the only thing in the area, the lost people started to show up. Then they had their cooks back and Henkka didn't have to cook, as there was now twenty people plus the cooks. The problem then was getting more food to feed the new mouths.

It's then that Marko's soldiers noticed animals in the fields by the mountains. Hunting them became a way to get more food, but not too much as to wipe out all of them.

Then the outlying townspeople started to show up again and Tommy had no choice but to rebuild the towns again in almost the same spots they had originally rested. They found building materials provided by an unknown source with which to build them.

The only remaining question was, where had the people taken shelter during the last war? The lands were a barren wasteland after the shaking. Had they headed for the mountains? How did they survive for a year without food?

Tommy questioned every person who showed up and all of them said they couldn't remember anything after the earthquakes started. Their memories had been wiped away as far as Tommy could tell, but by whom?

When he asked Meldia and Edric up in Artim, they had no explanation for it either. Just like they couldn't explain why Dracona had magically healed itself after the demons and earthquakes ripped it apart. Also how the Forsaken Lands had been rebuilt and Blaxton was back to watching over it.

Clearly the gods had a hand in the lands in the clouds, but why the people in the lower lands? Weren't they just insignificant humans to them?

*********

Tony laid his head on Elias' shoulder. Their bodies were still warm from the joining and sated.

Elias stoked Tony's damp hair. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, it's very odd. The people showed up after we did and then more people showed up. Where were they? You saw from the magical pond that the lower lands were barren. Where could they have been?"

Elias shrugged. "I'm not sure, but obviously your grandfather had a hand in it. Only divine intervention would make sense. There's no way they lasted a year in the mountains, especially without any animals to hunt for food or even trees to rest under."

Tony stroked Elias' chest. "If they can come back, I wonder if my dragons will. I mean, I know they were in Dracona when I was healing as the Queen of Dragons told me, but I wonder if they'll come back to me."

"I doubt it. My mother said they were the last of their kind on the lower lands. Only the green dragon remains and she seems lonely by herself."

"She is lonely, that much I can tell while feeding her. Sometimes I feel guilty spending most of my time with you and not her."

"I spent quite a bit of time with her while you were gone. It was the only thing that made my life less lonely. If I had a dragon, I could be in some way connected to Dracona where you were."

Tony smiled, lifting his head to kiss Elias' lips. "I still don't know how I survived without you for a year."

Elias stroked the side of Tony's face. "It helped that you didn't know who you were. Once you did, even a little, you felt the ache inside."

"So basically even with my human and dragon parts ripped out, I still felt incomplete without you."

Elias turned red.

Tony snuggled under Elias' chin and grinned.

**********

The black dragon watched his sister, the purple dragon, run between his massive legs over and over again. He wondered why she did such a thing. She wasn't chasing anything that he could see, and yet she continued to do it every day.

The purple dragon stopped and chirped at him from the ground.

He roared back at her.

The purple dragon rubbed against his leg before wandering off to be with their mother the Queen of Dragons.

The black dragon returned to looking at the skies and forest in front of them. He was always on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. It was his job to protect the Queen of Dragons from anything that threatened her existence and he would do it with every inch of his massive body.

He blinked at the weird sound that traveled into his ears.

The black dragon checked the forest in front of him, sniffing the air and watching if the trees moved. The trees were still and nothing smelled different.

It's when he looked to the skies he noticed a weird mark. Usually it was clear blue with no clouds. Now it had a mark that seemed to get bigger the more that he stared at it.

Then cracks started to appear around it.

The black dragon stared at it. What was happening to their sky? Was their realm in danger?

Queen of Dragons roared, finally noticing what her son had already seen.

The black dragon ignored his mother's loud roars and kept watching the cracks spread out all around the weird mark. Something bad was happening but he didn't know what.

It's then that the weird mark smashed inward, shattering the blue sky around it and leaving blackness in its place.

The black dragon blinked at what appeared to be a massive hand reaching inside their realm. He noticed it was going for his mother fast enough to turn around and make a grab for her.

He missed her and instead grabbed his purple dragon sister who had been sleeping on top of the Queen of Dragons.

The massive hand took his mother into the sky before he could react further. His mother's loud roars rang out through the lands of Dracona before the hand pulled her through the created hole to silence her.

The black dragon nudged his sister, who had crouched into a tight ball while it was happening. He roared at her to flee Dracona through that hole and that he would find their mother.

The purple dragon shook her head and curled further up.

The black dragon nudged her again to roar at her. He had to make her realize that she wasn't safe here anymore.

None of them were safe without their Queen.

********

Timo awoke with one of his kids nudging at his side. He snorted at the young dragon and tried to go back to sleep in their den.

The young dragon nudged him again, chirping that something was wrong.

Timo's eyes flew open and he followed his yellow and green colored son into the plains by their den. He looked around the area but didn't see anything wrong.

It's then that he heard his mate's roar from behind.

Timo turned to look at her but she was nodding to the sky. He looked upwards and stared at the massive hole amongst the cracked normal blue sky.

His mate roared at him that a hand had broken through.

Timo frowned at that statement. A hand? No one was massive enough to put a hand through the top of Dracona. Not even the gods were that big.

One of his other kids chirped at him and motioned at the sky.

Timo glanced up to see a massive black dragon and smaller purple dragon go through the hole. He flicked his hand, changing back into his human form and mumbling, "I need to warn Artim."

**********

When Timo arrived at the grand hall in Artim, he blinked at the frantic scene in front of him.

He moved over to Meldia, who was kneeling beside someone. Once he caught sight of the face, he gasped. "Balin."

Meldia blinked at Timo's form. "What are you doing here?"

Timo pointed at Balin. "What happened?"

Meldia shook her head. "I don't know, but he showed up here mumbling about odd things and then collapsed. We've had two others from our order show up here already."

"Which ones?"

Meldia nodded for one of her nurses to take Balin away. "Our new commander Mathor was knocked out of the sky by something near the Forsaken Lands and one of his men Pelint was hit by something on the far side of Dracona. They both came here mumbling about odd things."

"What kind of odd things?"

"Mathor and Pelint said they saw a massive man before they were tossed aside. While Balin mentioned a massive hand hitting him. It's ludicrous because nothing is that big."

"Well, my mate said the same thing. Only it was a massive hand that broke through the sky of Dracona."

Meldia stared at him.

"But that's not the worst part. I saw the Queen of Dragons' black dragon son and purple dragon daughter fly through the hole created in the sky. I believe the hand took the Queen of Dragons."

Meldia staggered in place. "That can't be."

"Before coming here, I checked where she would have been from the sky and nothing is there anymore. All of the trees around it were smashed into the ground from the force of it."

Meldia took a deep breath and called out to one of the red velvet wearing guards. "Find me Edric, I need him right away."

The man nodded and hurried away.

Meldia looked over at Timo. "If what you say is true, all of Dracona is in danger. They are left defenseless without her."

**********

Marko watched his men and some villagers put up another house for a family of three. His days were spent doing this or traveling to areas that needed their help. Thankfully, they had enough wood and metal to make the houses stay up. He wasn't sure where it was all coming from as they seemingly appeared at each former town waiting for them.

Elias had mentioned that it was probably Tony's grandfather, one of the supreme gods, helping them out. Marko dismissed it, mostly for the fact of why gods would help humans. They had realms to watch over as Edric would say and surely better things to do than create cut wood for houses and tools to assemble them with.

Still, he had no proof that they weren't helping, but he found it hard to believe that they would bother. Just let the humans fend for themselves or let them die.

Then again, maybe they were indeed entertainment for the gods as Timo had told him many years ago. That without their entertainment, they wouldn't have anything else to watch beyond the other realms.

Marko frowned, unwilling to be someone's entertainment. He had a duty to protect their lands and if that meant creating villages from scratch, then so be it.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear his men calling out to him.

"Commander!"

Marko turned to one of his men. "What is it?"

"In the sky!"

Marko glanced upward and stared open mouthed.

There above them was a dragon, circling around their area.

Marko squinted at the dragon, trying to figure out what color it might be. It was either too far away or too small for him to do so. Instead, he called out to his men, "Take no action against it. I believe it's looking for something."

"Weren't they all destroyed, sir?"

Marko frowned. His men were right, there was only one dragon left and it resided in their fortress. "I don't know why this one is still alive, but I don't want it to be harmed in case it's one of Timo's order."

The men went back to work, looking at it through the side of their eyes.

Marko shimmered into his gray dragon form and shot into the air when their backs had turned. He approached the dragon as slow as he could, but it saw him immediately and flew over to him.

It's then that he noticed it was a young dragon, much smaller than he was and purple.

He stared at it and wondered why it seemed so familiar to him.

The purple dragon roared at Marko.

Marko cocked his head to the side, unable to figure out what it was saying. Tony hadn't taught him how to understand dragons yet.

The purple dragon roared again.

Marko pointed to himself.

The purple dragon blinked at it and moved over to sniff Marko.

Marko let the dragon do it, as he knew they could tell a lot about people with their noses.

The purple dragon looked at Marko and then turned to the side. It turned toward the horizon and zoomed off.

Marko gaped, realizing it was heading straight for the fortress.

*********

Tommy was in his common room when a loud bang echoed from the front door. He motioned to the man at his door to answer it.

The man swallowed hard and cracked open the door to peer out.

A giant eye looked back at him.

The man jumped back, the door coming open at the same time.

It sniffed the scared man on the floor and walked past him to Tommy's common room.

Tommy gaped at the sight of a purple dragon wandering inside his room. He turned and whispered, "Pasi!"

Pasi poked his head out from behind Tommy's chair and blinked. "Is that a dragon?"

Tommy nodded, his eyes never leaving the dragon. "Get me Tony."

**********

Tony was tending to the green dragon with Elias watching him off to the side. He shot a dirty wink to him and headed into the cage to clean it.

The green dragon wandered over to Elias, pushing her head into Elias' chest to sniff. Elias laughed and scratched the green dragon's head. "Yes, it's Tony's smell on me. I don't think anything of mine doesn't smell like him at this point."

Tony rolled his eyes in the cage.

Pasi appeared at the outer cage door, gasping for a breath.

Elias hurried over to him, opening the door and touching Pasi's arm. "What happened? Is there something wrong with our lord?"

Pasi shook his head and looked around. "I need Tony right now. We have a visitor that Tony might help with."

Tony poked his head out of the green dragon's cage. "What kind of visitor?"

"A purple dragon."

**********

The purple dragon had migrated over to Tommy's chair and was sniffing Tommy's hand when they arrived. Its head went up immediately when Tony came near. It chirped and rubbed its body on Tony.

Tony smiled and petted the purple dragon's head. "How did you even get down here? Where is your mother?"

The purple dragon lowered its head.

Elias shuffled forward. "What happened to my mother?"

The purple dragon nodded up to the ceiling and roared.

They all looked up and saw nothing.

Tony touched over the purple dragon's head. His eyes fluttered with the rush of images flying past of the purple dragon being born and playing with Tony, playing around her black dragon brother, sleeping on her mother, and then of a giant hand reaching in over her.

Elias touched Tony to get him to stop shaking. "Tony?"

Tony gasped for a breath. "The Queen of Dragons is gone. Taken by a giant hand."

Tommy frowned. "A giant hand?"

Tony nodded, stroking the purple dragon's back. "Yes, and it looks like the black dragon guarding the Queen of Dragons saved the purple dragon right before it happened. That's what I saw in her visions. I didn't think gods could get that big."

Tommy got up from his chair. "We need to alert Edric and Meldia about this."

Elias shrugged. "They probably already know. Timo lives in Dracona and I can't believe he'd miss something that massive coming through the sky, if that's what it was."

The purple dragon roared at Elias.

"I don't know where she is, but we'll find her. She's more valuable than either Tony or I now."

*********

Tommy ignored what Elias said and tried to call Artim anyway. At the very least to let them know where the purple dragon was. He opened the magical book Meldia had given him. 

The only problem was it transmitted in the Sacred Spring room so he had to hope someone was there to hear it.

Tommy frowned at the empty image. Even if no one was there, he could still see the golden carved ceiling of the Sacred Spring room.

The image was blank.

Tommy shook his head and got up from the desk. What was going on? Why wasn't he able to get them?

He was about to ponder it further when a massive quake rocketed him backward and into the wall.

**********

Tony and Elias were in the dragon cages showing the purple dragon around. It went over to the green dragon to sniff.

The green dragon watched it with a cocked head. She roared at Tony.

"She's not here permanently. She has to go back with the Queen of Dragons."

The green dragon blinked at Tony and then glanced down at the dragon. She roared at it.

The purple dragon looked up.

The green dragon roared at it again.

It shrugged and went back to sniffing the green dragon.

The green dragon roared at Tony again.

Tony turned to Elias. "She was never told?"

"Technically both of us shouldn't even know that. My mother was very angry at Balin when he told me."

The green dragon licked the purple dragon's head when it curled up beside her body. The purple dragon gave a small sigh and closed its eyes.

Tony smiled at it. "She must be tired. I don't think she's flown this much ever." He wandered over to the green dragon. "You don't mind caring for her?"

The green dragon nodded and gave the purple dragon another lick.

It was then that they felt the quake under their feet, pushing Elias and Tony back hard against the outer bars of the cage and knocking them out cold.

*********

Marko gathered his men after a successful day's work on the new houses when the ground shook hard enough for them all to topple over like toy soldiers.

The ground trembled under Marko outstretched arm. What was happening? Did something happen to the fortress?

Just the idea that his lord, Henkka, Elias or Tony was in danger brought dread to this heart.

One of his men coughed and pointed to the nearest mountain to the east of them.

Marko winced at moving, his neck and body hurting from the throw backward. He stared at the mountain, or what was left of it. Something had sheared off the top, leaving a smooth top to the once jagged points.

One of his men wiggled over to him. "Are you alright, commander?"

Marko winced when his eyesight started to double. "I think I took a hard blow to my head. What happened to that mountaintop?"

"I don't know but first let's get you back to the fortress. Some of the men can go that way to investigate and report back."

Two of his men helped Marko to his feet. "That sounds good. Do you mind if I hold onto your arm while we walk? It's all dizzy in my head."

"Of course, we'll take it slowly. Let me know if you need to stop."

Marko took a deep breath and started to walk with his second in command.

*********


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A massive blast sends them tumbling around like toys. Will they survive or will others intervene to help?

Tommy groaned, pushing himself up to a sitting position. The room was spinning around his head.

The door flung open and a blur of fluffy brown hair was at his side in an instant. "Tommy! Are you alright?"

Tommy winced at the loud noise. "Too loud. Talk quieter."

"Sorry, I was scared."

Tommy leaned against Pasi's body. "What happened?"

"I don't know, but thankfully I was able to hold onto a doorway when it did. Is it that Metoes guy again?"

Tommy tried to move his arm but it didn't budge. He bit his lip. "Can't contact Artim. It was black."

Pasi pet Tommy's head. "Don't talk, conserve your energy."

Tommy grit his teeth, the pain from his arm finally hitting him. "Pasi...I need Henkka. My arm. I can't move it."

Pasi moaned when he saw the blood blooming on Tommy's blue shirt. "I will go get him. Stay here."

Tommy leaned back against the desk leg for support, gasping for a breath at the sudden pain.

***********

Pasi found Henkka on the ground of his room. "Henkka?"

Henkka groaned. "What happened? Did we have another earthquake?"

"I don't know but Tommy is seriously injured."

Henkka pushed himself off the ground. "Do you know how seriously?"

"His left arm is broken."

Henkka raced around his area and pulled down several jars. "I need to make up something to stop the bleeding. I have some wood for a splint in one of my cabinets."

Pasi watched him pour some herbs and other things into a small jar.

Henkka closed the jar and swirled it around to mix it up. He turned to open a tall cabinet and retrieve two small pieces of wood and some gauze.

Pasi blinked at how fast Henkka rushed into action after being tossed around. Then it hit him that Marko was outside the castle and Henkka was trying to distract himself from it. "Thank you for helping."

Henkka gathered up his things and gave Pasi a raised eyebrow. "For what? I haven't done anything."

"Well, for what you're about to do."

Henkka snorted and walked past Pasi. "I'm not worried about Marko. He has his men with him."

Pasi frowned, wondering how Henkka knew what he was thinking.

*********

Tony gasped for a breath, his chest squeezing him like a vice.

Elias opened his eyes and winced. He was sure the room wasn't spinning like a top. "Tony?"

Tony sucked in air, "Can't breathe...."

Elias sat up and moaned, his eyes seeing weird things in front of it. "Tony?"

Tony's eyes rolled back into his head.

Elias felt around, trying to focus on anything for longer than a few seconds. "I'm coming."

Tony didn't answer.

"Tony?"

Elias got to Tony and touched over his throat. "No, come on. You can't take him away from me again. He doesn't have anything to save him now."

Tony's eyes fluttered open and he mumbled, "Chest."

Elias felt along Tony's chest until he got the source of the problem. "Your rib is broken and it's bleeding out." He stumbled to his feet, steadying himself on the bars and called out. "Henkka!"

Just then Henkka rushed by only to stop short at the sound of his voice. He turned back and went over to the bars. "What happened?"

Elias fell to his knees. "Tony...ribs. Broken."

Henkka swore and handed the jar to Pasi. "Give Tommy a pinch of this in his mouth. Wrap his arm up with a cloth and I'll be there as soon as I can."

Pasi was about to protest but Henkka glared at him. He nodded and rushed away.

Henkka pushed the door open and touched Elias' arm. "Elias? Are you dizzy?"

Elias licked his dry lips. "Room spinning. I feel sick."

Henkka touched over Elias' head. "You hit it hard and probably have a concussion. Don't move and I'll take care of Tony."

Elias leaned back on the bars, closing his eyes again.

Henkka winced at Tony's body. The blood was already darkening his red clothes. He glanced up expecting to ask the green dragon for help only to find it laying on the ground with another dragon. He raced over to them and touched over their necks.

The green dragon blinked its eyes open.

Henkka smiled at it. "Hey, are you ok?"

The green dragon shook its head and motioned down.

Henkka groaned when he saw the dragon's leg twisting in ways legs shouldn't be. "I'll try to fix it after Tony. Stay still until I do."

The green dragon nodded, propping itself against one of the closed cages.

Henkka rushed over to the purple dragon who he'd never seen before. He touched its neck.

The purple shook its head and looked up at Henkka.

Henkka smiled. "Are you ok? Is anything hurt?"

The purple dragon scrambled off the ground. It tried to look at its body but ended up going around in circles. 

Henkka laughed and stopped it. "Looks like you're fine. Can you help me with Tony?"

The purple dragon paused at the name and then noticed Tony's body on the ground. It rushed over to it, licking at Tony's face and nudging his body with its head.

Henkka stood beside it. "I need you to pick it up and take it to his room."

The purple dragon chirped at Tony before picking it up with care. It looked over at Henkka, cradling Tony's body to its chest.

"Follow me."

***********

Marko shuffled along the dirt and rock path back to the fortress. Every step made his head spin and his stomach churn, but he had to keep moving. He needed to find out if everyone was safe in the fortress.

The whole thing was a metal death trap and if anyone was remotely near the cages downstairs, bad things could happen in an instant after that kind of blast.

The second in command kept looking off to the left, probably trying to see what happened to the mountain, but Marko didn't want to risk turning his head. Any movement beyond his feet, his stomach did a backflip and bile raced up his throat.

He just needed to keep moving. The more he moved the faster he would get there.

The second in command gasped, stopping his movement and thereby Marko's to stare up at the sky. "What is it?"

Marko winced, tilting his head up with care to look up at the sky. He blinked at the object. "A dragon?"

"No sir, it's not the right body type. It almost looks like a human flying in the air. That sounds crazy but that's what it looks like."

Marko frowned. "A human?"

"Yes, wearing red clothes from the look of it. Looks like it's searching for something."

Marko tried to get his brain to work. Something about a person wearing red clothes sounded familiar. 

"We should probably keep moving."

Marko walked a few steps before stopping short. "Artim. That man is from Artim. We need to alert him."

The second in command blinked. "Are you sure, sir?"

"Yes, they can heal people."

The second in command leaned Marko against a large stone before calling out to the flying person. "Hey! Down here!"

The flying object darted down to their position and landed in front of them. "Are you alright, Marko?"

Marko glanced up. "Balin?"

Balin smiled at him. "Good, you remember me. Did you hit your head?"

Marko nodded and then winced at the motion of it.

Balin picked Marko up and was about to take off again when the second in command reached out to stop him. "What is it?"

"I can't allow you to take my commander. I don't know who you are."

Balin scoffed at the man. "I am Balin, guardian of Dracona and member of the Light Magic order. I will get him healed up."

Marko pushed the second in command's hand off Balin. "Go back to the fortress. The lord might be injured."

The second in command hesitated and then nodded. "Very well. Please feel better, sir."

Balin shot into the air holding Marko's body and headed to the east.

***********

Marko gaped when he caught sight of the reason why the mountain had no top anymore.

There before him was the golden castle that formerly floated in the clouds of Artim.

"How is this possible?"

Balin sighed. "We don't know yet. All we know is the Queen of Dragons was snatched from Dracona and whoever did it pushed us out of the sky as well."

"What can be big enough to push a huge castle out of the sky?"

Balin landed where many of the inhabitants of Artim were standing in front. He called out for Meldia.

Meldia rushed over to Marko. "Are you injured, Marko?"

Marko winced. "My head. It hurts when I move it."

Meldia touched over Marko's head filling his field of vision with a blue light. She smiled down at Marko who was more alert than before. "There, I believe I got everything in there. Let me take a look at your neck and shoulders. That kind of whiplash will hurt them as well."

Marko nodded, grimacing at the tightness in his neck. "I believe you're right."

Meldia started chanting the same spell while touching the back of Marko's neck and shoulders.

Marko took a deep breath, able to do so without pain. "My thanks."

Meldia smiled. "It's an easy fix. Are any of your other men injured?"

"I don't know. My second in command who was with me when Balin found us wasn't. Though I'm worried about the fortress. Everything in there is metal and hard walls."

Meldia called out to Edric and Timo. "We're needed at the fortress. Marko believes there might be injuries."

Edric and Timo hurried over to her.

She turned back to Balin. "Take him back to the fortress with us."

All three took to the air in their respective forms - Meldia a blue raven, Edric a spotted white hawk, and Timo as an emerald green dragon. 

Balin followed them along with Marko in his arms.

*********

They landed outside of the fortress and transformed back into their human forms.

Timo approached the door and knocked on it. He frowned at the wait, shoving the heavy doors open.

They walked into Tommy's common room but no one was inside.

Timo sighed at the lack of people and turned to Balin. "Help Marko to his room. He's going to need rest after Meldia healed him."

Marko snorted. "I'm fine. I will help find them."

Timo rolled his eyes and shoved Marko into Balin's arms. "No, you're not. Go and we'll find them."

While Balin was carting Marko away despite his protests, Timo called out in the room. "Tommy? Can you hear me?"

Pasi staggered from the hallway covered in blood. "He's in here."

Timo rushed over to him. "My god, are you ok?"

Pasi shook his head. "It's not my blood, it's Tommy's. His arm is broken and bleeding. I tried to stop it but it keeps pouring out and...."

Meldia touched his arm. "Where is Tommy? We can heal him."

Pasi swallowed hard. "Sorry. He's this way."

*********

Meldia rushed forward when she saw Tommy tipping to the side and blood coming out of his arm. "Looks like we have a serious injury." She waved her hand over Tommy's body and chanted a spell.

Pasi started to sob.

Timo patted his shoulder. "It's ok, Pasi. We'll fix him up. Though why isn't Henkka here?"

Pasi blinked through the tears. "Tony. He's with Tony."

Edric stopped Timo from leaving. "I'll get him. Stay here with Pasi and Tommy."

********

Edric wandered down in the basement, trying to remember where Elias' room was as surely Tony's would be nearby. He stopped short when he heard sobbing in a room off to the side.

Henkka was standing by Tony's body with tears rolling down his face. "No, please not again."

Edric hurried inside, pushing Henkka away from the body and waving his hand over it. He started chanting a spell and a golden light appeared over Tony's body.

Henkka gaped at it. "Edric. How did you get here?"

Edric ignored him and continued to put more healing magic at Tony's body.

Tony gasped, his body trembling from the magic.

Edric smiled and pulled at the broken ribs to align them back again.

Tony winced and then started breathing at regular intervals. He opened his eyes and stared up. "Edric? Why are you here?"

"It's a long story. I'll leave you in Henrik's care to change out of those soiled clothes." He turned to Henkka. "Make sure he gets some rest."

Henkka stopped Edric from leaving. "Elias has a concussion in the dragon cages. There's also a hurt dragon but I don't know how to heal those. The other dragon is watching over it."

Edric frowned. "The other dragon?"

"Yes, a purple one. I don't know where it came from."

Edric's eyes widened.

"What?"

Edric backed away from Henkka. "How did she get here?"

"You know of this dragon?"

Edric nodded. "Yes, it's the dragon who helped the Queen of Dragons heal Tony."

Tony glanced up at them with sleepy eyes and spoke through cracked lips, "And the Queen of Dragons' replacement."

**********

Timo left Meldia to finish up with Tommy while he headed down to the basement to see how Tony was doing. He ran into Edric in the process. "How is Tony?"

Edric snorted at him. "Didn't I tell you to not follow me?"

Timo rolled his eyes. "Just answer the question."

"He's fine. I fixed his busted ribs and muscle pulls. We have a bigger problem now."

Timo followed Edric to the dragon cages. "What?"

Edric moved forward once he spotted Elias lying against the outer door. "Elias? Can you hear me?"

Elias cracked open his eyes. "Head...hurts."

Edric waved his hands over Elias' head and chanted a spell.

"The purple dragon? How did it get here?" said Timo, looking inside the dragon cages.

Edric finished off his spell and touched Elias' arm. "How do you feel now?"

"Much better. Everything was swirling around when I had my eyes open."

Edric placed a hand on Elias' neck and shoulder, bathing them in a golden light.

Timo gasped. "The green dragon is injured."

Edric finished the spell. "Yes, I know. How do you feel now, Elias?"

Elias got up from the ground. "I feel better. How is Tony?"

"He's sleeping and you should too. I've healed your injury, but your body is going to need rest."

Elias moved out of the way so they could come inside. "Will the green dragon be ok? Henkka mentioned it was injured I think."

Edric moved over to it with Timo. "I don't know. It's been a while since I had to heal dragons."

*********

Tommy opened his eyes and looked up. "Meldia?"

Meldia smiled at him. "How do you feel?"

Tommy glanced down at his bloody clothes and gasped.

"You're not bleeding any longer. I've fixed your arm and head. I will have Pasi help you change into something else."

"Thank you for your help. Maybe that's why I couldn't call you before. You were already here."

Meldia frowned. "There is much to discuss about that, but I will wait until you've rested first. Your health is more important right now." She turned to Pasi. "Please help him to bed. Let me know if you need anything else."

Pasi breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the tears from his eyes. "I'm sorry for breaking down earlier."

Meldia touched his shoulder. "You have nothing to apologize for. Feel free to get some rest as well. I can keep a watch out for the front door."

Pasi helped Tommy to his feet. Tommy smiled at him.

Meldia was about to figure out where the basement stairs were when Elias came into the room. "Elias? Is Tony ok?"

Elias nodded. "Edric needs you down below. I can take you to him."

"Is Tony worse than we thought?"

Elias shook his head. "It's not Tony. It's the green dragon."

*********

Meldia raced down to the dragon cages following close behind Elias. She wondered how they were going to fix a dragon as it had been years since one had been in their care. 

The first war with Metoes wiped out all of Artim's dragons. Since then the only dragons they'd seen were human/dragon hybrids or the few remaining in Tony's care.

Meldia stopped at the main door to the dragon cages and gasped at Edric. "It's bleeding internally?"

"Yes, and I need your help with this one. I can't stop several places at once while both of us together can."

Timo opened the cage door and let Meldia pass before closing it again.

Meldia raised an eyebrow at the purple dragon standing off to the side. "Is that what I think it is?"

Timo snorted behind her. "Yes, it is. She somehow made her way here based on Tony's smell."

Meldia kneeled down beside Edric and put out her hands. "Where do you need me to be?"

"Can you slow the blood a little toward her right leg? It's the one that's broken and bleeding inward."

Meldia chanted some spells, bathing that part in a blue light.

Edric closed his eyes, his hands glowing a golden color as he worked on each bone of the leg that was twisted, healing the muscles and veins around it as he went.

The green dragon stared to move.

Edric turned his head to call out, "Timo, I need you to distract the green dragon. She's trying to move away from us."

Timo went on the other side and stroked her neck. "It's ok, we're only trying to help you." The green dragon buried her head into Timo's hand and sighed.

"There, only a little more and then you can let the blood flow normally."

Meldia waited until Edric moved away and let the blood flow back a little more at a time. Letting it go at once would injure it further. Once she was done, she smiled at the green dragon. "Better?"

They moved away to allow the green dragon to walk. She got to her feet and roared.

Meldia turned to Timo. "Is that a good roar or a bad one?"

Elias laughed behind them. "It's a good one. She's thanking you."

*********

Tony groaned and tried to turn but an arm was holding him close. He smiled, turning his head a little to kiss the mouth behind him.

Elias stretched a little and kissed Tony back.

Tony moved when Elias loosened his grip and kissed harder. His hands slipped up Elias' bare chest, teasing Elias' hard nipples.

Elias sighed into the kiss, rolling over so Tony was straddling his body.

A snort rang out from the doorway. "They're awake."

Tony groaned when Elias broke the kiss. "No dammit, wait until we're done."

Meldia rolled her eyes at Timo's side. "They're never done."

Timo laughed. "You can finish that later. We have some things to discuss and we might as well tell you all at once."

Tony grumbled to himself as he got off Elias' body, reaching out for his shirt.

Elias smiled and got up. He put his arms around Tony from behind. "We'll always have time to do that."

Tony shook his head. "I doubt it. They probably have bad news to tell us if they're already down here."

Edric sighed from the doorway. "That's an understatement. This is very bad news but we will get to that in your lord's common room upstairs."

**********

Tommy sat in his usual chair with Pasi sitting to the side. The rest stood around Edric, Meldia, and Timo who were in the middle of the room.

Edric glanced around the room. "First thing's first, here's what we know so far. The Queen of Dragons was snatched from Dracona by what witnesses say was a large hand two days ago. It broke through the divine magic wall around the Dracona, shattering it enough to get said hand through it."

Elias frowned. "A hand? How is that possible?"

Edric shrugged. "That is not known yet and we'll come back to it. The black dragon who guards the Queen of Dragons and her daughter the purple dragon escaped out of Dracona shortly after. We weren't sure where they were heading, but since the purple dragon is here we believe they split up so she could find Elias or Tony and the black dragon would go after the Queen of Dragons."

Tony smiled. "She found me from my scent, didn't she?"

"Yes, she did. Mostly from when you used to play with her. As you know, a dragon's sense of smell is tied to memories. She probably remembered being safe with you and sought you out."

Elias nodded. "At least she's safe. If that hand would have taken both of them, we'd be in big trouble."

"We already are. Whoever took the Queen of Dragons did so knowing Dracona would be left unprotected. Despite the fact that she usually just sleeps, eats and doles out power, she is a source of protection for the dragons inside it. Without her, they are left to be destroyed or harmed by someone else."

Tony gaped.

Edric saw it and nodded. "Yes, she is the ultimate power of Dracona and unless we find her soon, Dracona could be destroyed or just fall apart into itself."

Meldia sighed. "And then we come to why we're here. After those two dragons escaped from Dracona, Timo traveled to Artim to tell us the news of it. Sadly, Mathor and Balin were thrown away from separate parts of Dracona when the hand broke through or pushed them away. We were trying to make sense of their rambling words when Timo confirmed his mate saw a giant hand appear."

Tony frowned. "So you all came down here to warn us?"

Marko shook his head. "They didn't have a choice in that. That golden castle they live in at Artim took out the top of the mountain range to the east."

Elias turned to Edric. "How is that even possible?"

Timo shrugged. "We're not even sure about that one. Several of our guards saw a massive shape to the north while others saw a giant fist to the west right before it launched us out of the sky. It's actually a wonder that our people didn't die on impact. Maybe it's because a several of us are magic wielders but maybe even divine intervention happened as well. We honestly don't know."

Tony took out his locket. "So if I were to touch the picture of Artim, it would transport me to the castle here?"

Edric nodded. "Very likely, and it's that locket that I wanted to talk to you about. If it still works, we could use it to get back to Dracona to see what's happening. Granted if Dracona has been destroyed for whatever reason, then we'd know that too. It wouldn't work like it didn't two years ago."

Elias shook his head. "This still doesn't explain whose hand that is. Is it a god? Do they get big enough to destroy things like that?"

Meldia glanced over at Edric before answering. "The highest ranking gods can pretty much do whatever they want. It's the reason why a lot of them were punished for their harmful actions just as Blaxton was for mating with the Queen of Dragons. If one of them wants to, they could very well make their body massive. The question is who would want to do that?"

Tony's eyebrow rose at Edric. "You have an idea who it might be. I can't imagine you'd just try to get to Dracona without a plan."

"It might very well be Metoes' father - the God of Chaos. It is something he has done in the past from what our ancient records tell us. If he's intending to use the Queen of Dragons as Metoes tried to do with Elias, then he could very well destroy all of the realms and remake them again. Or at the very least, resurrect his son fully this time around." He stopped to shake his head. "The thing is, other gods should be watching out for this to prevent it."

Meldia nodded. "That is what confuses me the most. If it is the God of Chaos, then why haven't others interfered and stopped him? He's been unheeded the whole time and it makes me wonder if there's more at work than just him."

Elias blinked. "A revolt? Against those who oppressed him before?"

"That is one possibility. He also might have others on his side and might very well try to take out the supreme gods as well. Meaning the very same god that gave Tony the locket in the first place."

Tony frowned. "Where is my father?"

Edric shook his head. "I have no idea. The last I saw of him was when you returned to Artim after healing in Dracona. He might be caught up in all of this as well. All of the gods including Blaxton might be fighting in it. You'll notice he's gotten rid of anyone who isn't a god from the skies."

"What do we do? I doubt we can let them do whatever it is they're doing up in the sky."

"Correct and you're the center of that. I want you to return with Timo, Meldia, and I back to our castle. We're going to use your locket to see what's happening up there."

Elias frowned. "The Well of Rembrance doesn't work anymore?"

Timo cocked his head to the side. "I don't think we even checked that after landing. We were too worried about injuries."

Tommy turned to Marko. "Did we check the other villages for injuries?"

"My men and I were going to after this. My hope is that we don't have to rebuild too much again. We still have another town to do south of here."

Timo stared at Marko. "Rebuild them? For whom? There's no one left out there."

Tommy smiled at Timo's confusion. "Something that we know and you don't? That has to be a first."

Timo rolled his eyes. "Very funny. It's not like I've been watching over these lands much."

"Well, to answer your question our people returned six months ago. At first, we were housing them here because it was only the fortress staff. Then people who lived in nearby towns starting showing up and we decided to help rebuild their towns again."

Timo turned to Edric. "I thought everything on these lands was destroyed during the last war?"

Edric shook his head at Tommy. "That can't be possible. They died, that much was certain. Where would they have been living through all of this?"

Tommy shrugged. "I have no answers for you. They just showed up and we've been helping them out as we normally would."

Edric turned to Meldia with wide eyes.

"The only way the dead come back to life is if their realm has been destroyed and they got pushed out of the skies like we have."

Marko's eyes bugged out. "Wait, we've been helping the dead?"

"Maybe, but they appear real to you? They're not ghostlike?"

Marko shook his head. "I can touch them and they're real like I am. Not to mention the men help with the rebuilding of the towns. Wouldn't ghosts just float through them?"

Henkka appeared behind Tommy's chair. "And they eat as well. Food disappears into them just like it does with us."

"Speaking of food, the animals have come back and food is starting to grow on trees and underground. I just assumed it was a god doing it to help us out."

Meldia looked over at Edric. "You don't think it's him, do you? Helping the lower lands even though he's not allowed to anymore."

Edric frowned. "If that's the case, then we've found our root of the discord."

Tommy's eyebrow rose. "What?"

"It might be Damuo. He is an older god who repopulated lands that were destroyed during wars between gods. As far as I know, he was cast away eons ago when the gods stopped trying to destroy themselves."

Timo shook his head. "That's not what I heard from Alywin once. Damuo is the guardian of the Heavenly realm, where the dead go after they die. He watches over them and makes sure that realm is safe."

"Maybe, but if he's interfering with those down here like giving them animals and people again he'd be the one to do it. Especially if he is indeed in the Heavenly realm."

Meldia nodded. "And if one of the other gods found out, it would start a war between them. Something the God of Chaos doesn't really need an excuse to start, but maybe it started with someone else and escalated to the God of Chaos trying to destroy what Damuo created again."

A frown covered Timo's face. "But that would mean he seeks to destroy this realm."

**********


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is casting realms out of the skies. What will Edric and the others do to stop it? Or is it too late?

Elias held onto Tony's hand as they walked outside. He tried to not think about where his mother could be and if she was being mistreated. Would they kill her and thus kill them all?

He had no idea.

If the God of Chaos was anything like his son, he'd probably toy with them and then do it. Or at the very least attempt to do it, assuming that's what his goal was in the first place.

Tony shook Elias' hand to get his attention. "Elias?"

Elias smiled at Tony. "Sorry, I was thinking of my mother."

Tony hugged Elias around the middle. "I believe she's alright. I have to believe that because I don't want to have to tell the purple dragon that her mother is never coming back."

Elias kissed Tony's lips. "I hope so too."

Tony kissed back, sliding his hands underneath Elias' shirt.

Timo rolled his eyes and pulled Tony back. "You'll see him again."

Tony groaned, pushing Timo away. "Why do you always interrupt our kiss?"

Timo dragged Tony over to Meldia and Edric. "Because you'll have plenty of time for that later. You can handle twenty minutes without Elias to see if this works or not."

Tony frowned, turning back to see Elias wave at him from the front door. "I'll see you later then."

"Be careful."

Timo, Meldia, and Edric gathered in close to Tony. He nodded at them before opening the locket and touching over the picture of Artim.

**********

Tony blinked at the lopsided room.

Edric moved over to the Well of Rembrance and sighed at his reflection staring back at him. "I have a feeling this is dead now. All I can see is my face."

Tony shuffled over to it and then stared at the image that cropped up. "Mother?"

Edric turned back to look at the pool again. "Why is Avelina appearing on this?

Meldia and Timo leaned over to watch the image of a woman move through what looked like plains near a town.

Tony reached out for her but Edric pushed his hand away. "Sorry."

Edric shook his head. "She shouldn't be on here at all. Those who have died are lost to his vessel. Despite its title, it only shows images of living people."

Timo frowned. "Maybe she is living again? Or maybe the Heavenly realm has been destroyed and she is wandering without a purpose?"

Tony cocked his head to the side. "It's funny, I think I know where that is. Though how did she get down here?"

"She's in the village of Sommer. Where Peoter Botov destroyed it with magic. I recognize the well in the center of it. The question is, why there? She never lived there as far as I know."

Tony shook his head. "No, we lived in a small town to the far south of the fortress. This is to the northwest of it." He stopped to frown. "Our town was destroyed when I was taken by Metoes' men."

Edric got up from the pool of water and turned to Timo. "How far away is Sommer from here?"

"Maybe 20 minutes or so by air? We're more east than south from it. Why?"

Edric moved toward the door of the room. "I believe it holds the key to something. I just don't know what."

**********

The guard by the front door of the fortress stared at the image of a woman walking toward him. Though something was odd about how she looked as if she was floating through the air instead of walking. He shook his head and told himself he was just in need of more rest.

The woman stopped in front of him. She smiled and said, "I want to see my son."

The guard frowned. "Who is your son?"

"He is important to me and everything else. I must see him."

The guard shook his head and repeated, "Who is your son?"

"He is everything to me. I should have not let him go so easily. It was not my choice, you see."

The guard turned toward the inner door, calling out to another guard inside, "Can you come here please? I have a problem."

*********

Marko exited the lord's room in time to see the guard move away from his post for the front door. He frowned and followed the guard.

The front door guard turned back and then blinked at the area in front of the fortress.

The second guard looked out. "There's nothing out there. Are you trying to play tricks on me?"

The front door guard shook his head. "There was a woman out there asking to see her son. She looked kind of familiar actually, but I can't remember from where."

"What did she look like?"

Both guards stood at attention when they heard Marko's voice.

Marko rolled his eyes. "Just answer the question."

The front door guard swallowed hard. "Well, she was fair of hair and wore a light blue dress with ruffles."

Marko backed away from the guards. "It can't be."

"What is it, commander?"

Marko shook his head. "You've just described someone that looks like our lord's mother. There's a painting of her hanging to the side in the common room."

The front door guard nodded. "That's why she looked familiar." He stopped to frown. "But isn't she dead?"

"She died while giving birth to our lord."

**********

Timo, Edric, Meldia, and Tony landed close to the town's entrance.

Tony looked at the faint glowing white light around the town. "What is that?"

Edric pointed. "The source of your people coming back. It was destroyed by magic and if magic was used to allow them to come here, it will glow like that. Something has happened to the Heavenly realm or these people wouldn't be here."

Meldia nodded. "So then Damuo was responsible for some of them coming back. At the very least for the lands to renew and grow food."

Timo shook his head. "If that realm was truly destroyed, then they should have been as well. How did they get here?"

"Easy, he got them out before it was. Hence why they're flooding out of this town. Tommy said that only a few showed up at first. Damuo knew what he was doing and that someone would find out, so he tried to save his charges. In this case, the dead."

"And now they're all here. Again, whoever is in charge up there is pushing out ones that are not gods."

Edric looked around the area. "Where is Tony?"

Timo turned to search the area nearby. "He couldn't have gone far. I didn't see him turn into his dragon."

Meldia motioned to the town entrance. "I believe he went in there."

**********

Tony followed the familiar smell. 

It was her smell; a smell he'd forgotten for so long. A smell that brought comfort and protection, compassion and love.

An ethereal white light bathed everything around him. The people who watched him wander in seemed real enough for him. He couldn't see through them like old tales of ghosts portrayed. If he wanted to, he could reach out and touch them.

But he wasn't here for them. He was here for her.

It had been so long since he saw her face. For a while in the dungeons, it haunted his dreams. It blamed him for her death, saying he was a coward to curl up and do nothing.

What could he really do to an army of men at the age of eighteen?

Tony sighed, realizing that he should have told them before going in here. Maybe they were afraid Tony had done something stupid and were searching for him.

He stopped short, his breath trapped in his throat.

A woman with long wavy brown hair turned and smiled at him.

Tony bit his lip, watching her get closer to his position and wondering what to say after this long. Or if anything needed to be said at all.

She reached out to touch the side of Tony's face.

Tears rolled down Tony's cheeks.

She smiled at him and said, "My Tony."

*********

Marko returned to his lord's common room to tell him of what transpired outside, only to stop short and gape.

There before him was the woman described by the front door guard standing in front of his lord.

Tommy stared at the woman.

The woman smiled at him. "My Tommy, look at how grown you are."

Tommy shook his head. "You're not real."

The woman advanced closer to stand next to Tommy's chair. "Maybe not like you, but I am here now. My son, the one I never got to see and was taken away from me when I died."

Tears gathering in his eyes, repeating it again, "You're not real."

The woman reached out, brushing her fingers against Tommy's face.

Tommy's eyes fluttered closed and mumbled, "This can't be real."

*********

Timo, Edric, and Meldia entered the town and gaped at the thousands of people milling around in a white light.

Edric frowned at it. "The center point appears to be the well in the middle of town. I believe they're coming from there."

Meldia glanced around. "Do you notice something odd about this place?"

Timo's eyebrow rose. "Other than it being full of dead people?"

"They're all women. There are no men in here. At least I haven't seen one yet."

Timo glanced around. "You're right, they are all women. I wonder if there's another town filled with the men."

Edric sighed. "Or the men never got out. Maybe Damuo couldn't save them and sent the women for some reason."

Timo shook his head. "No, as Marko said men from the towns helped with the rebuild of the houses. Not to mention Marko's own soldiers."

Meldia advanced forward and then stopped short. "There's Tony."

Timo turned to see a woman reach out to touch Tony's face. "She looks exactly like the reflection in the pool. Though how is she able to touch Tony like that?"

"I don't know, but I believe we should leave this place as soon as possible. We still need to see if his locket works to Dracona."

Timo frowned and looked around. "Where did Edric go?"

Meldia stopped walking to turn. "Edric?"

Timo looked behind him and to the left with no success. It's then that he spotted him on the right side. "Edric?"

Meldia walked with Timo to Edric only to stop short. "Oh no."

Timo frowned, turning his head to look at Meldia. "What?"

"That's Edric's wife."

Timo gaped. "He has a wife?"

"He had a wife. She died in a war with the gods forty years ago. It was before you joined our guild."

Meldia touched Edric's shoulder. "We need to leave this place."

Edric sighed, reaching out to touch his wife's face. "I haven't seen her since that day. She was killed by a magical blast from a demigod on the God of Chaos' side. I didn't even get to bury her as it obliterated her body in an instant."

"I know, I remember it. I also remember how you were after it."

Edric rubbed his wife's face with his fingers. "She feels real to me. How is that possible?"

"I don't know, but I know that staying here is delaying our quest back up to the skies."

Edric pulled his wife closer to kiss her lips.

Meldia was about to say something but instead sighed.

Edric finished the kiss, cupping his wife's face. "I love you. I may not have said it when you were still alive, but I do. With every part of my being and I miss you every day that passes. Maybe the memories aren't as prevalent as after it happened but I do think about you always."

The woman with golden hair smiled at him. "I know you do. Know that I never stopped caring about you after my death. I've watched you take on dark forces and care for younger magic users along the way. I'm proud of you, Edric."

Tears formed in Edric's eyes. "I want to have you again."

"You know that's not possible. Though for this moment, I am glad to have experienced it. To see and feel you again. It is more than I could have hoped."

Edric held her close, breathing in her long forgotten scent again. "For me as well."

*********

Tony let his mother hold him close. He buried his face into her neck and sobbed.

"My Tony, you've grown up into a strong man."

Tony felt the wave of memories come back of her death right before his eyes overwhelm him. He hadn't thought about it in years thanks to Elias, but he couldn't stop it now.

"I was taken from you, that much is true. Though I believe you have found another to help with that."

Tony pulled his head back. "You know of Elias?"

His mother smiled. "Of course, I've seen you two together over the past several years. You care for him deeply and I am glad you have found another to share your life. I was always worried that you would spend your life alone."

Tony touched over his heart. "I didn't want to get hurt again. I tried my best to ignore the desire to be with someone else. Then he walked into my life and changed it."

His mother stroked the side of Tony's face, wiping away the tears. "For the better from what I've seen of it. You've grown so much during it, letting your heart open to love. It makes me proud to watch you finally happy in life."

"You are?"

His mother smiled, leaning in to kiss Tony's cheek. "Of course I am. You're my son."

**********

Pasi poked his head out from behind Tommy's chair. He stared at the ethereal looking woman, who touched Tommy's face.

The woman glanced over at him. "You must be Pasi."

Pasi's eyes widened. "You know of me?"

"Yes, you love my son. I had wondered if he would ever find someone to share his heart with."

Pasi flushed. "You don't have a problem with that?"

"I would have liked for him to gain a son to carry on the line, but I also want him happy as well. You make him happy, despite all his bluster. He gets that from his father."

Pasi smiled. "It's part of his charm for me. For the longest time, I didn't know if he liked me in that way and convinced myself that I was better off ignoring it. Turns out he was doing the exact same thing."

Tommy blinked. "Where is my father?"

Tommy's mother shook her long blond hair. "I do not know. We were separated and then I ended up on these lands. He has been watching you grow as I have in another realm, but something happened to it and I came to be here. I recognized the mountains and of course the fortress. That's how I found you."

Marko frowned at the doorway. "We'll need to alert Edric or Meldia about this."

Tommy looked at his mother. "I assume they already know."

***********

Tony's mother glanced up and smiled. "I assume these are your friends?"

Tony turned around, wincing at the glare on Meldia's face. "Some of them are."

Timo's eyebrow rose. "How did you know we were with him, Avelina?"

Avelina motioned around her. "You are the only men in here other than Tony."

Edric stepped forward. "Why are the men missing?"

Avelina shook her head. "I don't know. One minute we were in another realm and the next here in this destroyed town. The men must have ended up somewhere else."

"Or were used for less honorable purposes."

Meldia blinked. "You don't mean...."

Edric interrupted her. "Yes, I believe he has. Though we won't know until we test out Tony's locket."

Avelina glanced at her son's neck. She reached out to touch the locket. "Where did you get this?"

Tony hesitated and then spoke, "From my grandfather."

Avelina touched over her heart. "My father?"

"No, my father's father."

Avelina blinked. "You've met Alywin?"

"Yes, I'm actually the one who released him from his watery prison years ago."

Avelina looked away from her son. "You shouldn't spend any time with him. He'll only break your heart."

Tony bit his lip. "Actually he said he loved you."

Avelina sighed. "I doubt that."

"I believed it."

Avelina turned back, reaching out to stroke the side of Tony's face. "Be careful with that trust of him. He might betray you later."

Edric nodded to Tony. "She's right. Alywin is not to be trusted in most cases. He's reckless and only after serving his own needs. Then again, he reminds me a little of someone I know."

Tony rolled his eyes, speaking to his mother again, "I need to go. Will you still be here when I come back?"

"Perhaps. If I am, I would like to meet Elias. He seems like a fine man."

Tony flushed. "I will try."

Avelina's eyebrow rose. "You don't want me to meet him?"

Tony shuffled his feet. "It's not that. I just didn't think you'd want to."

Avelina touched Tony's arm. "I shouldn't have to keep telling you this, but you're my son. I would want to meet anyone who is special in your life."

**********

The black dragon raced through the darkened space between realms for hours trying to follow his mother's scent.

They would pay for taking her away from him. No one messed with his mother and got away with it.

He wondered if his father knew about it yet. They hadn't seen him for a while, but that was the norm with his father. Many times in the past, his father spoke of a place he had to guard so maybe he was there.

Either way, the black dragon hoped to find his mother first without having to involve others in the hunt.

Still, the constant flying was taxing on his massive body. He wasn't used to it anymore, having to sit and watch over his mother the Queen of Dragons. Even in that brief war he'd been a part of, he only had to fly down from Dracona to the lower lands. It wasn't as far as this had been.

He didn't know how much further it could go on after this.

Would he be too tired to defend his mother after taking so long to reach her?

The black dragon roared into the void, hoping it would speed up the process and show the coward who took his mother.

Instead, he was blown forward, shoved by an unknown force in the air.

**********

Tony stood outside of Sommer. "So I guess we need to test this out first?"

Edric moved in closer with Timo and Meldia, touching Tony's shoulder. "Yes, in order to see what's happening above."

Tony took a deep breath and opened the golden locket. He touched over the picture of Dracona and waited.

Nothing.

Tony tapped on it again, not noticing that Edric's hand had left his shoulder. He frowned at the locket and tapped it repeatedly. "Come on, work!"

A hand covered over his.

Tony blinked, looking up at Timo. "What?"

Timo pointed upward.

Tony glanced up, gasping at what was above them.

There high in the skies, darkening the light of the sun, were thousands of dragons flying overhead.

Edric swore and turned to Meldia. "Dracona's been destroyed."

**********


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edric attempts an act that might just cost him his life. Will the gods interfere or leave him to die?

Blaxton felt the blast reverberate throughout his whole being. He clenched his fists and moved around the air, looking for a way out. He had to find out if she escaped and if their children survived.

They put him in charge of the Forsaken Lands again, but really he was just watching over Arric. He was the only one left after Metoes' demise.

Watching over a man who mostly moped about being back inside was not exactly a fulfilling experience.

In reality, it made Blaxton hate Arric even more.

Had Arric not been stupid enough to not only mate with the Queen of Dragons, producing a dragon child, and then trying to sacrifice his own son he wouldn't even be here at all.

Instead, Blaxton looked after someone who should have been obliterated from every realm, including the Heavenly one where everyone else goes. If it had been up to Blaxton, he would have killed him right after they captured Elias almost fifteen years ago.

The world would be a better place without a man who would sacrifice his own son just to fix his own problems. Men like that should not exist in his realm, but he had no say in it.

Blaxton took off, dashing fast into the sky that surrounded the Forsaken Lands. He'd seen it destroyed before and hoped going at it full force would allow him to breakthrough. 

He cared not what happened to Arric, as he couldn't get near his son Elias anyway.

*********

Alywin felt the shock heading toward it from the lands over it. He blinked at the destroyed realm that was once Dracona.

A wave of fear raced through his body. Was his son there? What of Elias?

Alywin zoomed through the air to get a closer look but all he saw was death and destruction of the lands. Blackened trees were burning out of control through the lush forests, while ash and falling debris covered the once pristine lakes.

He frowned at the lack of bodies. Surely, some dragons would have perished with a blast like that and yet he saw no remnants of dragons. No burning flesh or bodies littered the ground, only trees and stones from the mountains above.

Had they all got out in time? How did they know it was going to blow up in the first place? 

Alywin made his way from the realm of Dracona, heading for the lower lands. He had to know if Tony was safe.

It was then that he felt something push him backward between realms.

**********

Tony gaped at the massive amounts of dragons flying overhead. He'd never seen that many at once.

Even traipsing around the forests and plains of Dracona he'd never encountered this many.

Without thinking, he transformed into a red dragon and roared into the air.

Most of the dragons paid him no heed, except for six dragons of various colors that zoomed down to Tony's position.

Tony shimmered back into his human form in time for them to rub against his body. "Glad you made it out."

Edric laughed at the display. "Even dead, they still remember their master."

"They remembered me in Dracona too. The Queen of Dragons said they helped with my healing. We'd play for hours by the lake and then nap together."

Timo smiled when the red dragon tried to get a head petting from him. "Still ever the impatient one."

Tony laughed. "He's always been like that. No amount of roaring will change it."

The red dragon roared in protest before going back to Timo.

********

Edric sighed at Meldia. "How will we get up there again?"

"I don't know. Without the connection to Dracona, there is no other way to find out. I could try casting a spell on the Well of Rembrance, but that will take several hours. Not to mention I don't even know if it will work in the first place."

"We might as well try. It's really the only thing we can use to see other worlds."

Timo turned to them. "What about Sommer? It's obviously linked to something or those women wouldn't still be appearing in it."

Edric stroked his gray beard. "That is a good point. Maybe I can try something there while Meldia works on the Well of Rembrance. One of us is bound to find out something."

Tony pointed at the town. "Plus it has a well in the middle of it. I think that's where the people were coming from. At least that's what I noticed before seeing my mother."

Edric frowned. "They were coming out of the well?"

"Yes, at least it looked like they were. Maybe it was on the other side and seeing it from the front gave it the appearance of that."

Edric turned to Meldia. "I will go check it out. You go back to our castle and see if you can get the Well of Rembrance to show us at least what's going on. We may not be able to interact with it, but if we can prepare for something happening to this realm that would be ideal."

Tony frowned. "Something will happen to this realm?"

Edric glanced over at Tony. "That I don't know, but the fact that all of us are together in it doesn't make me feel safe. One blow from a powerful god and we all disappear forever."

**********

Timo and Tony returned to the fortress with the six dragons following behind them. 

Tony didn't have the heart to tell them to go away since this was their home for over ten years. They were as much a part of it as Elias or Henkka was.

They stopped short when they saw the front doors wide open with no one guarding them.

Timo and Tony rushed inside to spot the two guards staring into Tommy's common room with wide eyes. Timo pushed them to the side and then stopped short. "What..."

Tommy opened his eyes. "It's my mother. She's come back somehow."

Timo wandered in to stand beside the apparition. "Let me guess, you came into these lands via the portal in Sommer?"

Tommy's mother nodded. "Yes, how did you know that?"

Tony frowned at the ground. "Because my mother was there. The whole town was filled with the spirits of women who died."

Marko stared at Tony. "Was my mother there?"

Tony glanced up. "I didn't see her. Then again, it was slowly filling with women when we arrived. Who knows how many more there was to come?"

"How is that possible?"

Timo shrugged at Marko. "I have no idea, but Damuo had a hand in saving these women. He sent them down here to spare them from the destruction of the Heavenly realm. It's not known where the men went, but they could be used to destroy these lands or many others."

Marko looked around Timo and gaped. "Are those dragons?"

"Whoever sent our castle to the ground also destroyed Dracona. All of the dragons are here, save for the Queen of Dragons of course. Though I haven't seen the King of Dragons yet so maybe they have him too."

"But those are Tony's former dragons."

Tony smiled. "They remembered me from before. It only seems fair that they come back home until we figure out what's going on. The green dragon will be happy to have them back."

***********

Edric took a deep breath before entering Sommer again. He knew he'd run into her again and he wasn't sure if he could handle it a second time. The pain from her loss had finally subsided over the years until today.

Now it was back at full force with the idea of seeing her again. She was dead and he knew it, but to have her back even if for a little bit made him hopeful.

Even if it was a false hope.

Edric didn't walk more than five steps before hearing his name called out. He turned to see his wife move over to him.

She looked at him curiously. "You have returned."

Edric walked toward the well in the center of town. "Yes, I'm here to find where you are coming from. Tony said it was near the town well."

"No, it is over to the right of it. I will take you there."

Edric followed his wife behind the central well and to the right. He frowned at the darkened hole on the ground. "What is that?"

"Our escape path. I believe it leads back to the Heavenly realm, but I fear it doesn't exist anymore. Why else would we all be here if it had?"

Edric waved his hand over it and chanted a spell. "It was as we thought - made by Damuo. He saved you all from whatever was going on in his realm."

His wife kneeled down beside Edric to touch his shoulder. "If you knew that already, then why come back?"

Edric smiled and turned to her. "You should know the answer to that. I always need to see it for myself before deciding anything."

"That is true. You wouldn't stop trying to figure out how things worked, even as a younger man. That's probably why I decided to be with you. There was never a dull moment."

Edric scoffed. "I'd take a dull moment right now instead of what I've been dealing with for the past fifteen years. No, make that over thirty years. Really this all started when Arric was foolish enough to mate with the Queen of Dragons."

"I believe it's even earlier than that. I don't know why, but I have a feeling Metoes is at it again. Or if not him, his father the God of Chaos."

Edric shook his head. "Metoes was destroyed and his followers along with it. If it's anyone, it's the God of Chaos. Either angry that we destroyed his son or at Damuo for trying to repopulate the towns down here."

"The former is likelier. Despite all his bluster, I believe he did care about his son Metoes. Even if only to see him cause destruction that the God of Chaos couldn't do anymore."

"That's the thing. The God of Chaos was supposedly stripped of almost all of his powers back when you were killed and yet if he's the one responsible for Dracona, Artim, and the Heavenly realm where did he get such power? Only the gods could have granted him such a thing."

"Maybe he's convinced other gods to help in this quest? Some did fight on his side when the god war happened over 40 years ago. They in conjunction with the God of Chaos would be a formidable team against us. Especially if we didn't have gods like Blaxton on our side."

Edric frowned. "We don't have Blaxton this time. He's watching over the Forsaken Lands."

*********

Blaxton zoomed full force at the sky, intent on breaking through whether his superiors liked it or not. He expected to bounce back, sealing him inside still, but he went through it as if it was already open.

He blinked and turned back to look down at the Forsaken Lands. 

That shouldn't have happened. It should have kept him in like before. After all, the highest of grand spells sealed it shut.

It was then that the Forsaken Lands exploded, sending Blaxton back into the area between realms.

Blaxton shook himself to make sure everything was still working and then gaped at his former home.

It was nothing more than dust now. Unlike what happened several years ago, which just left the sky missing, the whole realm was gone. Blown apart by an unknown source.

Had he not left when he did, he would be as destroyed as it was now.

Blaxton snorted at the attempt on his life and zoomed away.

*********

Tony headed to his room while Timo led the dragons into the cages again. He frowned at his empty room and then headed over to Elias' room. With a smile, he went inside to look down at a sleeping Elias.

He reached down and stroked the side of Elias' face.

Elias breathed deeply and opened his eyes. He smiled up at Tony. "Hey. You're back from Dracona already?"

Tony frowned and sat on the edge of the bed. "Dracona has been destroyed."

Elias sat up with a start. "What? How?"

Tony shrugged. "I don't know, and neither does Edric or Meldia."

"But how do you know it's destroyed from here?"

A snort rang out in the doorway. "He has his dragons back."

Elias turned his head to look at Timo. "He does?"

Timo came into the room. "Yes, plus about 10,000 other relatives. Once we figure out if we can get back up there again or not, then I can search for my family."

"My mother?"

Timo shook his head. "No, she's still missing. The King of Dragons is also missing, as is the black dragon who guarded her. Really you and the purple dragon are the only ones left from that family."

"She misses her mother. I can tell by how she looks up every time I come to feed her. She jumps up expecting her mother to appear."

Tony leaned into Elias' body. "She's never been away from her other than with me and Blaxton for flight training."

"Though the green dragon has taken up the mantle of caring for her."

Tony smiled. "That doesn't surprise me. She never had the chance to take care of her own kids before the Dark Magic users snatched her. I remember seeing her past when I first got her and being sad that she would never get another chance to rear a child. Now she has one."

Timo nodded. "And the others are helping as well. It didn't seem necessary to put them all away in their cages. They're all curled up in one massive pile of dragons."

Tony laughed. "Just like when they were younger. I only started separating them because the six males would start to fight each other for dominance. The green dragon would try to stop them and then end up injured, so I started keeping them away from each other with the cages."

"They don't seem to care about such things anymore. You don't even need to feed them."

Elias frowned. "But they eat in Dracona?"

"They do, but it's different than here. The gods provide it and here it's by hunting and such. You can still do it but they might not eat it."

Elias stared down at his hands. "How will we find my mother?"

Timo wandered further into the room to sit at the table across the way from the bed. "It all hinges on whether Meldia or Edric can find a way to see what's going on. If we can find whoever took her and figure out the location, then it's just a matter of getting there."

Tony frowned. "I wonder why my father hasn't tried to contact me yet. He has to know that Dracona has been destroyed by now."

"He might be trying to; we have no way of knowing at this point."

**********

Alywin blinked at the force keeping him from accessing the lower lands. He'd never encountered this kind of resistance before except when Meldia trapped him in that pond.

He turned, going back a little and approaching it at an angle. 

It still resisted his passage.

A voice echoed out of the silence of between realms. "Begone, you insignificant little fly!"

Alywin fists tightened at his side. "Just try it."

A giant hand appeared before him, three times the size of Alywin's whole body.

Alywin snorted at it and held his ground. "Where's the rest of you? Too afraid to show yourself?"

The hand swung back.

Alywin's eyebrow rose. "You can't harm me. I'm a god."

The hand moved forward, whooshing through the silent air.

Alywin assumed it wouldn't move him.

He assumed wrong.

*********

Edric was about to move away from the opening when the head of a man popped out of it. He blinked at the ghost-like face. "Who are you?"

The man put his finger up to his lips and reached out for Edric's hand.

Edric shook his head. "I'm not coming with someone I don't know the name of."

The man rolled his eyes, turning to write in the dirt that gathered around the hole.

Edric gaped at the name. "It can't be. How are you still alive when your realm is gone?"

The man erased the name and wrote, "Escaped."

"And this hole is a way back to your realm?"

The man shook his head and wrote on the ground again, "Between realms."

Edric thought for a moment and then spoke, "Take me there."

The man nodded, moving back into the hole and holding out his hand for Edric.

Edric's wife touched Edric's arm. "You shouldn't do this. At the very least tell Meldia where you're going."

"I need to protect this land. Tell her that if she comes looking for me."

Edric's wife was going to protest further but Edric's body disappeared into the hole. She stood over it, shaking her head and saying, "I hope you know what you're doing."

*********

Edric held onto Nemuo's hand and hoped he wasn't making a huge mistake doing it like this. He had no way of knowing where they'd end up or even how he'd be able to return to the lower lands.

All he could think of was the loss of his wife and how he didn't want others to experience the heartbreak. If the God of Chaos was indeed involved, he wanted the chance to end this once and for all. Sure, he was only a powerful Light Magic user compared to a god, but the idea of avenging his wife's death was too great inside him.

He knew Meldia would be furious with his actions, giving him a piece of her mind afterward. 

It was fine and he would probably deserve it, but right now was the time to end this.

Meldia would understand.

*********

Making her way through the destroyed parts of the castle, Meldia headed inside the Sacred Spring room. 

The actual Sacred Spring had been destroyed in the landing, scattering large pieces of carved stone across the room.

The gods wouldn't be happy with that, assuming they even cared about it anymore. Judging by what was happening already to the realms, this was insignificant to them right now.

Meldia kneeled beside the Well of Rembrance. She waved her hand over it and chanted some words.

An image popped up on it.

Meldia frowned at the image of Edric traveling through darkened tunnels. "What is this?"

Edric and someone else exited the tunnels. He turned into his spotted hawk form and flew along with the other glowing person.

Meldia shook her head. "What have you done, Edric?"

They flew until it opened up to an area of blackened space.

Meldia spoke to the image, "You're between realms. How did you get up there?"

It was then that she saw the glowing person's face as he turned and appeared to look right at her. He nodded and moved away with Edric's hawk.

That face looked familiar, but she couldn't place it. Was he a god?

She watched them pass several other realms that she didn't recognize by appearance. The only realms she knew for sure were realms she had access to, as the gods maintained the rest of the realms.

From what she could figure out, they were on the outer edge of the far realms. Places where the Fiery Falls and the Heavenly realms might be located.

They flew unheeded until something flashed on the pool of water.

Meldia hovered over to get a better look.

There on the surface of the water was the image of a large hand coming for them.

Meldia screamed out, "Get out of the way, Edric!"

The glowing man spotted it first and tried to divert them to safety, unaware that Edric was still flying forward.

Meldia gasped, the hand swinging back and flinging the hawk deeper into the areas between realms. She saw Edric's body transform back into a human as it disappeared from view.

She sat down beside the Well of Rembrance, tears filling her eyes.

*********

Blaxton raced through the air, following the scent of his son. The Queen of Dragons was too far away to pick up yet, the male dragon smell from his son was plenty for now.

He knew his son was looking for someone and most likely it was his mother, which would bring Blaxton to what he sought. There was no need to go back to Dracona if his son was searching for her between realms, as it meant she escaped.

Though that didn't mean she was safe for long.

Whoever had taken her knew there would be others trying to find her and would likely use her to either destroy all of the realms to try to stop them.

Too bad they weren't counting on the former God of War to be one of those to help. He would die trying to protect his mate from harm. She was too precious to him to sacrifice for destruction as Metoes tried to do when he captured Elias.

He had to wonder if Metoes had a hand in this, despite dying in the molten core of the lower lands. It would be easy for any god to resurrect a demigod again.

What concerned Blaxton more was how whoever was doing this without resistance. Surely, the highest ranked gods would be able to stop a demoted god and his son from committing havoc on the realms.

Unless they too were destroyed.

That was not something Blaxton wanted to think about, but it was a possibility at this point. It would make sense how the realms were imploding one at a time.

He was about to think more about it when something rammed into his body, shoving him to the side. 

Blaxton tried to push whatever it was off his body before they spiraled out of control to the lower lands. "Get off me!"

A pair of brown eyes looked at him with concern.

Blaxton twisted hard in the air to right them again. He shoved the body off him. "What is the meaning of this Alywin?"

Alywin shook his head and winced. "I wish I could tell you. I don't even know where I am."

"We're between realms to the north of the Forsaken Lands."

Alywin gaped.

"What is it?"

"He sent me that far? How does he have enough power for that?"

"Who sent you?"

Alywin sighed. "The God of Chaos. All I saw was this massive hand and then he batted me into the air. I haven't stopped until now. I was on the far side trying to get to my son on the lower lands."

"You do know how far that is. It's almost the length of these lands."

"I know, and I don't know how he could do such a thing. His powers for that were stripped."

Blaxton scoffed. "Well he has them now. The Forsaken Lands is no more, obliterated by a blast. I escaped right before it blew up. I believe Dracona is also lost."

"It is, that I can confirm. Though there weren't any dragon bodies left. It was very odd."

Blaxton grinned. "My sons must have gotten them out. I've been following one of them to the Queen of Dragons. I fear she's been taken."

Alywin shook his head. "I was afraid of that. With that kind of power, whoever has it could wipe us all out with a flick of his wrist."

Blaxton moved to continue on his journey. "Which is something I intend to stop."

"Let me come with you. I need to find a way to my son and if the God of Chaos is blocking me from it then he will pay for that."

Blaxton's eyebrow rose. "You intend to help me?"

"We both want the same thing - to protect the Queen of Dragons."

Blaxton laughed, shaking his large body. "Fair enough. Though if you get in my way, I won't hesitate to take care of you myself."

Alywin wiggled his eyebrows. "You can try."

***********

Timo stretched outside of the fortress, watching thousands of dragons cruise through the air and sit down on the tops of mountains to roar at each other. He'd only ever seen this many dragons at once were the ones that used to be housed in Artim. There were at least a thousand when he first joined the order over thirty years ago.

Though over time they started to get less and less, finally dying out during the great war with Metoes.

Timo blinked at erratic flight patterns of a blue bird in the sky. It was then that he figured out why it looked familiar and zoomed into the air to get it.

In his dragon form, he grabbed a hold of the blue raven and brought it back to the ground. He changed back into his human form with the bird still in his hand. "Meldia?"

The bird escaped his grasp, transforming back into a human and dropping to her knees.

Timo knelt beside her. "Meldia? Can you hear me? What happened?"

Meldia swallowed hard, tears rolling down her face. "Edric is dead."

"What? How?"

"He somehow got up there and between realms."

Timo's eyes widened.

"Then he was hit by a giant hand. The reason I know he's dead is because he transformed back into human right before his body disappeared."

"What made him do something foolish like that? He's smarter than going alone back up there again."

Meldia shook her head. "It was his wife. Seeing her again, reopened the desire to take on the gods to avenge her death. That's how he was like after it."

"I don't remember him like that when I first joined."

"That's because Edric nearly destroyed himself trying the first time. The gods were less than amused, returning him to Artim under orders of never trying such a thing again. Soon after you joined and he didn't have time to think about it anymore. You were enough of a handful to distract him from it."

Timo rolled his eyes. "I wasn't that bad. You make it sound like I was a toddler at the time. I was a young man."

"A young man that almost blew up one third of the castle with an errant spell."

Timo made a face. "That wasn't my fault. Edric gave me the wrong directions."

"To teach you to recognize the wrong ones. Instead you actually followed them and that wing still bears your handiwork."

Timo shrugged. "Had he actually told me that from the start, nothing would have happened. I still maintain my innocence."

Meldia frowned at her hands. "I don't know what to do now."

Timo sat beside her on the ground. "Well, we now only have one high ranking Light Magic user. I'm not strong enough for the highest spells that he was, but I know more than our younger magic users do."

"You know what I mean, Timo."

"You were able to see him through the Well of Rembrance?"

Meldia nodded.

"Then we can use it to our advantage in finding others. Maybe we can piece together what's going on. Or at the very least follow those who have our best interests in mind like Alywin or Blaxton."

Meldia scoffed. "Alywin couldn't care less about us."

"Maybe not us, but he does care about his son Tony. A war between the gods would put this realm in danger just as it did years before. If we have a way of knowing what's coming, we can prepare for it."

Balin swooped down to them. "Edric has gone into the upper lands. His wife flagged me down in the plains to make sure Meldia knows this."

Timo sighed. "Well, it's too late for that. He's dead from what Meldia saw of him."

Balin gaped. "He's what? How?"

Meldia got up off the ground, wiping the tears from her face. "I don't know, but Timo is right. We need to see what's happening up there in order to prepare for it."

Timo frowned at Balin. "Does that mean Edric got to the upper lands via Sommer?"

"Yes, from a hole in the ground behind the well. She showed it to me after telling me Edric had disappeared. It must connect to somewhere up there, but she was uncertain at where it was."

Meldia shook her head. "It doesn't matter anymore. He's gone and we have to prepare for the worst."

Timo was about to say something but then closed his mouth when Meldia glared at him.

"I'm not sacrificing another person until I know what we're dealing with."

***********


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strange things have begun to appear on the lower lands. Where did they come from and could they be a way to the upper lands?

The King of Dragons raced through the air toward the scents of not only his younger brother, but also their mother. He had to find the Queen of Dragons and save her before more destruction could happen.

Seeing Dracona explode as he left was enough for him to know that her safety was paramount for all of their brethren to survive.

As it is, he managed to get out every dragon from Dracona before it exploded. Thankfully, most were already on their way out when he was rounding them up. The last thing he wanted was more needless deaths of their kind.

The massacre fifteen years ago was enough for him to witness. Even below ground, he could feel it every time a dragon died on the lower lands. Their sudden howls and roars filled him with dread just as trying to find his mother did.

He was in mid-flight when something knocked into him from the side. His massive body absorbed the hit, but it pushed him off course to the right before stabilizing again. He roared at the object embedded at his side before realizing it was a human of some sort. All of those creatures looked the same to him, save for his father.

With a flip of his tail, he scooped it up and put it on its back. The human didn't appear to be awake so he just left it there and continued toward the scents.

Whoever it was, they were bound to wake up eventually.

*********

Timo, Balin, and Meldia entered the Sacred Spring room.

Looking down at the shattered remains of the Sacred Spring, Timo sighed. "Well, they're going to love us for that. Wasn't it a goodwill gesture from the gods?"

Balin laughed. "More like a peace offering. The gods were at odds with us for a while. Despite granting us our powers, they tried to get us to do their dirty work which Edric rebelled against."

Timo's eyebrow when he looked over at Meldia. "Edric was a rebel too?"

"Always, even now. I'd hoped he would mellow out over the last fifty years but he hasn't."

Timo laughed. "No wonder I always liked him."

Meldia rolled her eyes, sitting beside the Well of Rembrance. "What should we look for first?"

Timo knelt down and said, "Show me Alywin."

The pond rippled to show Alywin flying forward.

"Is he with Blaxton?"

Meldia scoffed. "Those two together would equal disaster, but at least we don't have to worry about them too much. How Blaxton got out of the Forsaken Lands again is another question."

Timo shrugged and said, "Show me the Forsaken Lands."

The pond flashed a picture of empty space.

Timo frowned. "I said show me the Forsaken Lands."

Balin leaned over Timo's head and squinted down at it. "I believe that is the Forsaken Lands, or where it used to be. Maybe it was destroyed like Dracona and Artim?"

Meldia sighed. "Then that makes four realms that have been destroyed of the twelve."

"That is not good. Though I don't know much about the other realms, save for the Heavenly one. I believe one is made of pure lava or something and another is all covered in ice."

Timo nodded. "Fiery Falls is the lava one. I can't remember what the ice one was."

Meldia thought for a moment. "The ice one is Glacia. I've only read about it in books, just like with Fiery Falls. I believe there was another full of plants but nothing else."

Timo looked down at the pond again. "Show me Fiery Falls."

The pond flickered before showing a land filled with raging volcanos and waterfalls made of lava.

"Well, at least that one is fine so far."

Balin cocked his head to the side. "What is that on the far left side? It appears to be a shelter of some sort."

Timo and Meldia leaned forward to look at it.

"Wait, didn't Tony put Metoes' body in the molten core of the lower lands?"

Timo nodded at Balin. "Yes, from what we could tell. We didn't actually see it, just assumed it since the hole kept going down when I looked at it."

"What if somehow Metoes managed to escape it and end up there? Like maybe the center of the lower lands is connected to that realm."

Meldia sat back. "What if that's not the only one? What if the high mountains lead to Glacia? Sommer which was destroyed by Dark Magic is now the Heavenly realm's gathering place."

"I see what you mean. The uninhabited continent to the south is filled with a jungle and plants. I don't believe anything lives on it."

Timo gaped. "There's another continent?"

Balin laughed at Timo's shocked expression. "Yes, if you fly far enough to the south you will see it. It's almost as big as this one."

Meldia turned to Balin. "Are there more continents other than that one?"

Balin shrugged. "Possibly. I didn't search around that much, just watching the dragons explore the skies."

Meldia got up from the ground. "We need to find out for sure. There might be other continents or islands that link to the other realms. If we can find one of them, we might have a way up there again."

**********

They landed on the continent covered in trees and forests. Several hundred dragons had discovered it as well and began running through the forests for food and shelter.

Timo smiled at them. "Well it is like their home in a way, just without the plains and lakes."

Balin turned to look out into the vast sea. He pointed out to a distant continent. "There's the lower lands to the north as we know them."

Meldia looked to the east and blinked at a large landmass in the distance. "Which one is that?"

Balin shrugged. "I do not know. I never noticed it until we stood here."

"Let's go check it out."

Balin turned around and frowned. "Where is Timo?"

Meldia swore under her breath and wandered over to the forests. "Timo!"

A large green dragon snorted down at her. Three yellow and green striped dragons and another large green dragon surrounded it.

Meldia rolled her eyes. "Now that you've found your family, it's time to investigate the landmass to the east."

The green dragon gave the other green dragon a lick to the face before shimmering into a human form again. The three smaller dragons rubbed their bodies on him.

Balin laughed at Meldia's put upon expression.

Timo scratched their heads and moved away. "I'll be back."

**********

The black dragon's body was starting to give out. He'd been flying for what he figured was days, but he couldn't be sure. Whatever it was, it was longer than he ever had before.

All that greeted him was more blackness from the area between realms. He would have thought he'd run into one of them by now, but he hadn't found any yet.

Her scent was still strong in the air, so it's not as if she disappeared without a trace.

Did he really have the stamina to get to her anymore?

His vision clouded, his body finally starting the process of him passing out.

Where would he land if he fell from his path?

*********

The King of Dragons raced forward, slicing through the air to follow his brother and mother's scents.

Though something was odd about his brother's. It was starting to fade away while his mother's scent was still the same.

Was he injured from an attack?

The King of Dragons pushed faster through the air when he caught sight of something in the distance falling. He zoomed down to intercept whatever it was.

Once he got close enough to see it was his brother, he reached out with his massive clawed paws and grabbed ahold of him.

The sudden extra weight made it harder for the King of Dragons to fly fast through the air, but at least his brother was safe. 

Now if they could find their mother, they could finish this.

**********

Blaxton stopped short and frowned.

Alywin flew beside him. "What?"

Blaxton cocked his head to the side. "I do not know. It's like my son's smell has doubled."

"Doubled? How is that possible?"

Blaxton shrugged and started moving again toward the smell. "I don't know, but it's very curious."

"I wonder if he found his brother."

Blaxton arched an eyebrow. "The King of Dragons?"

"Or maybe it's the younger one. If the Queen of Dragons has indeed been taken, then it would make sense for both of her sons to be trying to find her."

Blaxton grinned. "As they should, but unlike us they will need rest eventually. They can't go on forever."

"Then it's imperative that we find them as soon as possible. We could always rest at the nearest realm. I believe the jungle one is not far from here."

"Maybe, but I hope it's not Ermu. That realm is a barren wasteland with creatures that I never want to see again."

*********

Timo, Meldia, and Balin landed on the landmass to the east.

Balin winced at the high heat surrounding them. "Not a very hospitable place, is it?"

Timo shuffled forward, kicking up black sand as he walked. "It's like a giant desert. I don't even see much on it other than more sand."

Meldia waved her hand in the air to the north. She frowned and turned to wave her hand to the south. "I wonder what that is."

Balin looked south and frowned. "I don't see anything."

Timo chanted a spell. "Wow, it's some kind of tower. Do you think it leads to the sky realm?"

Meldia readied herself to transform back into a raven again. "There's only one way to find out."

Balin glanced between them. "I still don't see anything."

Timo smiled at Balin. "I'm not surprised to be honest. I had to chant a reveal spell to see it. It's to the direct south of here. Just follow along with us."

Balin shrugged and zoomed into the sky to follow the green dragon and blue raven.

***********

Something moved on the King of Dragons' back. He was about to toss it off when he remembered the unconscious human he'd found. Was it waking up?

The movement consisted of hand pats and shuffling.

He couldn't turn his head as he was carrying his brother's weight in front and he didn't want to tip all three of them over.

He roared at it, hoping that maybe it understood what he was saying.

It didn't seem to as it said, "Where am I?"

The King of Dragons roared again, telling it that they were between worlds.

He felt the tiny hands touch his neck, holding on for dear life as it flew through the air. With another roar, he dashed for the nearest realm to rest on. He hadn't been out this far before so he had no idea what kind of realms there were.

The voice of the human spoke again. "Wait, I don't recognize this area. Are we on the other side of the realms?"

The King of Dragons roared out an answer, but he was having doubts of the human understanding his words. It was a shame humans never learned their language. Communicating would be so much easier between them.

The human spoke again. "King of Dragons?"

The King of Dragons gave a hearty roar. At least it knew who he was. 

It was start.

**********

They arrived at the tower and looked up.

Timo stared at the height of the tower seemingly going straight up into the sky. "Does it actually go that far? Or does it just look taller close up?"

Balin got back in the air. "Let me try something first. Stay here."

Timo watched Balin zoomed high in the air, following the side of the tower into the sky. "Does he really think he'll be able to reach the heavens like that?"

Meldia shrugged. "He might as well try. The only other alternative is climbing this tower to the sky, assuming it reaches that far."

Balin swooped down to the ground again. "Something is blocking me from entering the upper areas. I suspect we've been cut off from entering like that."

Meldia sighed at the tower. "Which means we need to climb this tower to get there."

Timo winced. "That's a lot of steps."

Balin laughed, touching Timo's shoulder. "Just because there are steps, doesn't mean we have to walk them. We do have the ability to fly."

Timo made a face. "I can't turn into something that small inside. My dragon form would barely fit."

Meldia smiled at Timo. "Then you should have picked a smaller form."

Timo rolled his eyes as she turned into a blue raven and headed inside the tower.

Balin headed inside, flying a little off the ground.

Timo shuffled to the doorway, looking inside and groaning at the maze of spiral staircases before him. "Well, here we go."

*********

Tony stood outside of the fortress, watching hundreds of dragons fly through the air. He assumed it was like that in the past before others hunted them down for fear of magical use.

He wondered why there were so few of them in the air now. When they first appeared, there were thousands of them and now only several hundred remained. Did they take to the skies somewhere else like over Sommer or where the Artim castle ended up?

Tony frowned at the small amounts of dragons that seem to go south and never appear again. What was down there?

A snort rang out behind him before long arms looped around his waist. "You're thinking too loud again."

Tony leaned back into the warmth. "I'm always thinking, Elias."

Elias kissed the side of Tony's neck. "So what are you thinking right now?"

"At the moment? Why are dragons disappearing to the south?"

Elias glanced up at the sky, watching about fifty dragons head south and disappear over the horizon.

"See? It's weird."

Elias shrugged. "There's nothing much we can do about."

Tony wiggled out of Elias' arms. "I'm going to find out what's going on."

Elias tried to reach out for Tony's arm but he moved away. "You can't go, Tony. We have to stay here until Edric, Meldia, or Timo gets back."

"I have to know what's going on. If someone is taking out dragons again, then I want to stop it. It's bad enough they had to lose their lives in the first place because of the first war."

"Fine, but I'm going with you."

Tony shrugged and shimmered into his red dragon form.

"I have a bad feeling about this," muttered Elias.

**********

Timo slumped against the wall, gasping for air and cursing under his breath that he had to walk up every stair. They flew up above him, taunting him just out of range for him to reach out and yank them back.

He'd get hell for that, so he just silently cursed them with each step.

Balin landed on the stair above him. "You know, you could always ask for help. I would gladly take you to the top with me."

Timo pulled his head and stared.

Balin laughed. "Had you actually asked, you would have avoided all of this."

"Had I asked, you would have laughed at me and gone to the top without me."

Balin grinned. "That is a good point. As time is of the essence, I will be willing to take you up the rest of the way. Meldia is already up there by now."

Timo's eyebrow arched. "What's the catch?"

"There is no catch. To be honest, you're taking forever and I want to speed up the process."

Timo rolled his eyes and pushed past Balin. "No thank you."

Balin shook his head. "That wasn't a polite gesture, Meldia asked me to do it."

"Then she can wait for me to get there."

"That could take longer than we have. You do realize that?"

Timo was about to say something when Meldia interrupted him by yelling out.

"Get up here now! You both need to see this!"

**********

Tony and Elias followed the next grouping of dragons to the south.

The dragons soared through the air a bit before heading to a large landmass covered in trees. They flew over the land and then some of them landed on it.

Tony darted with those going to the land and Elias was helpless to follow him.

Once they landed, they shimmered back into their human forms.

Tony looked around. "Where did this come from? Was it always there and we didn't know it?"

Elias trudged through the overgrown grass. "I don't know. You'd think Marko's soldiers would have noticed it."

Tony turned to look back at the area they came from. "I don't think there was ever any towns that far south. If there was, they weren't helped by Tommy."

Elias glanced at the massive forest and jungle before him. "It's like we're on Dracona but without the lakes and plains."

Tony moved back to stand next to Elias. "That explains why some of the dragons are heading back here again. It's like their home, at least for the forest dwelling ones."

Elias blinked and stared down at his middle. "Tony."

Tony turned back. "What?"

"I feel it."

"You feel what?"

Elias looked up. "I feel her pulling me."

**********

The King of Dragons saw a realm come into view on the right and dashed toward it. He needed rest after carrying his brother and the human for so long.

He had no idea if this realm even had water or food on it. In the end, he could forgo it for now but later it would become a problem.

The land appeared to be a barren wasteland when it finally was in front of them. The King of Dragons roared at it, as if to tell it to beware of his presence. You never knew what kinds of things lived in such places.

He landed on a patch of red sand, setting his brother down before moving over to the side.

It was then that he realized how much hotter it was on the surface of this realm. The intense heat made him thirst for water.

The human on his back slipped off to the ground. It looked at the King of Dragons and frowned. "You can't handle this sort of environment, but maybe I can help with that."

The King of Dragons watched the human wave his hand through the air and chant strange words. He was going to roar at him but then something appeared before them.

The human reached down to touch it and came away with a damp hand. "Here is some water. I don't know how long it will last, but drink some while it does."

The King of Dragons gave a hearty roar before lapping up the cool water, cooling his body down in the high heat. Once he had his fill, he nudging his brother to awaken him.

Black eyes cracked open and blinked at him.

The King of Dragons roared at him, nodding at the pool of water before them.

The black dragon sniffed the sand, wiggling over to it. With a sigh, he started to lap up some water.

The human smiled at them. "Happy to be of service."

When the water started to disappear, the human waved his hand over it to renew the water again.

After letting the King of Dragons and the black dragon get their fill, the human knelt by the water and brought handfuls to his mouth to drink.

The black dragon roared to his brother to ask where they were.

The King of Dragons roared back that he didn't know.

The black dragon inched forward to sniff the human's body. He roared that it was linked to their human brother somehow.

The King of Dragons cocked his head to the side, wondering just who this human was.

***********

Once Balin and Timo reached the top of the tower, they figured out why Meldia's voice was so excited.

There before them was a room filled with large metal wheels on every surface that turned around together like an old clock.

Though these weren't ordinary wheels, as magic raced around their being, keeping them turning. Blue and golden strips of magical ties raced around Meldia, Timo, and Balin as they stood there in disbelief.

Timo frowned. "How is this possible?"

Meldia shook her head. "It's god magic, that much I can tell you. What it's actually doing is a whole other thing. I believe it's connected to other points on the lower lands. Possibly to all of the continents.

"But for what purpose?"

Balin folded his arms across his chest. "Well, if I had to take a guess it would be to power this realm. To keep the animals and plants alive, to keep the water flowing and life living."

Timo turned to Balin. "Then we're all part of some kind of machine?"

"Maybe. Though I have to wonder who exactly is powering it. I know it's god magic, but is it all of them doing it or just a few of them? Does this spell continue on without them or will the machines stop if it they are wiped out?"

Timo moved forward, reaching out to touch one of the blue streams that moved by. It went through his hand as if it were invisible. "Well whatever it is, we can't interact with it."

Meldia smiled at him. "Yes, I figured that out without doing what you just did. I can see all types of magic when I focus and it's some kind of grand magic, maybe set up after the first time Metoes tried to take over."

Balin nodded. "That would make sense. A way for the gods to interact without having to come down here themselves. I wonder if this can focus a beam of energy somewhere."

Timo frowned. "You mean it's a weapon as well?"

Balin moved away from Timo to the left side of the room. "Well, if it's powered by gods you would think it would have a way of interacting. I mean, if it does indeed provide life and resources then there must be a way of reversing that."

"If Metoes or someone like him got his hands on this, it would be a disaster."

Meldia pointed to the core of the wheels. "He can't get in here. For that matter, he can't even see this tower as Balin found out. It takes practiced magic users to be able to reveal it. Yes, he could wield Dark Magic but I believe this tower wouldn't allow him to enter."

Balin looked at the walls of the room. "But something is affecting it. Look at those cracks in the walls."

"Something is indeed weakening it. I don't know what it might be, but if I had to guess there's a god war going on and their attention is being diverted at the moment."

Balin shuffled along the left wall, between the far wheels. "Did you notice that as well?"

Meldia moved over to where Balin was. She gaped at it.

Timo shuffled to stand behind her. "Is that a door?"

Balin turned back to look at them. "Should we try it?"

*********

Tony gaped at Elias. "What? How is that even possible?"

"I don't know, but I can feel her pulling me from that large forest. Maybe she's in the center of it?"

Tony looked at the forest. "Why would she be on our lands?"

"I don't know, but it's getting stronger on my body. I'm not sure I can continue to ignore it for long."

Tony sighed at the overgrown forest entry. "Well, we can either leave or see what's in that thing?"

Elias swallowed hard, the pull on his body making him feel queasy.

"Come on, let's see where it's coming from. Maybe we can help her escape."

Once they crossed the threshold of the forest entrance, the vines and plants grew to hide it again.

**********

Blaxton frowned at the sight of a realm coming up in the distance. "The paths have started to diverge toward that realm. I have a feeling my sons have run out of energy."

Alywin nodded. "But you can smell the Queen of Dragons' scent?"

"Yes, I can. Even if we go to that realm to find out if they're on it, I believe I can still smell it afterward."

Alywin moved to go toward the upcoming realm. "Then let's see if they're on it first. Maybe we can offer aid if they need it."

Blaxton sighed in the air. "I hope my queen is safe."

*********

The black dragon and the King of Dragons slept while the human watched over them. It kept refilling the pool of water for drinking in case they woke up thirsty.

It was then that something rocketed into the realm at a high speed.

The human got to his feet and waved his hand in the air to create a shield over them in case it was an attack.

Instead it was two men who landed by their position. The raven-haired man with burning red eyes gaped at the human's presence. "Edric?"

Edric sighed at them. "Yes, it's me. Though this is not where I'd hoped to end up."

Alywin shook his head. "How did you even get up here? You're not powerful enough to come this far as a hawk."

Edric sat down on the sand again. "It's a long story. Everyone that isn't a god has been thrown out of these lands. Something took our castle out of Artim and landed it on the lower lands. The dragons have been displaced to the lower lands from what I assume is their realm being destroyed." He stopped to sigh at the memory of his wife. "And then there's the Heavenly realm which has also been destroyed and only the women have reappeared on the lower lands in the abandoned village of Sommer."

Blaxton folded his arms across his chest. "That makes four realms that have been destroyed now."

Edric blinked. "Four? What's the other one?"

Alywin sighed. "It's the Forsaken Lands. According to Blaxton it was blown to bits and everything in it destroyed."

"Well at least that means Arric can't wreak any more havoc concerning his son. I can't say that I'm sad about that."

Blaxton laughed. "For that I agree with you. That's all I was guarding in that realm. Now that there's no one to live in it, I am free from that obligation now unless we manage to get the God of Chaos in it."

Edric stared down at the red sand. "I was so stupid. I shouldn't have followed Nemuo into the heavens without anyone else with me. In the end, I was knocked out of the sky by some kind of hand."

Alywin nodded. "So was I, sending me across the vast area and smashing against Blaxton who was near where the Forsaken Lands used to be."

Edric looked over at the King of Dragons. "I believe I ran into the King of Dragons and he somehow saved me. I woke up on his back and not sure where I was. I'm not even sure why he saved me in the first place."

Blaxton smiled. "He never had a hatred for humans like some dragons do. Since you were probably unconscious, he put you on his back to let you rest. If you had been a threat, he would have tossed you into the void."

The King of Dragons gave a sleepy roar at the mention of his name.

Blaxton wandered over to his son and rubbed its massive head. "Good to see you again, my son. I was hoping you escaped Dracona in time. It looks like your brother did as well."

The black dragon blinked its eyes opened and roared at Blaxton.

"I know, I felt it too. I've been following you and your mother's scents. We only diverted here when the paths divided into two."

The black dragon gave a quiet roar and stared down at the sands.

Blaxton went over to him and patted his head. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have known something like that was coming. Not to mention it was a god and you wouldn't have stood a chance against it. Though where is your sister?"

Edric pipped in. "She's down in the lower lands with Tony at the fortress. We believe she followed his scent somehow and ended up at the front door to it."

The black dragon roared out a message to his father.

Blaxton smiled and then turned back to Edric. "He says he told her to seek out Elias or Tony. She wouldn't have been able to handle such a long journey."

Edric got up from the ground and brushed himself off. "That was a smart choice. Had you both been together, he could have captured her and used her for devious purposes."

The black dragon roared, shaking himself in the process.

Blaxton patted him. "They will protect her down there. Not to mention, the God of Chaos can't leave this area. She is safer down there than up here."

Edric turned to look to the east of them.

Alywin's eyebrow rose. "What is it?"

Edric waved his hand in the air and chanted some magical words. He gaped at what he saw.

Alywin moved over to Edric. "What do you see?"

"A tower in the distance."

Alywin cocked his head to the side. "I don't see anything."

"You wouldn't because you're not a magic user. As it is, I had to cast a spell to see it. We need to get to that tower."

Alywin reached out for Edric. "Then let's go." He turned to Blaxton. "Stay here with them and we'll be back in a few minutes."

Edric waved his hand over the ground. "Here's more water until we get back."

The King of Dragons roared at him before burying his face in the water.

**********

Meldia, Balin, and Timo stood in front of the massive metal door.

Timo swallowed hard and reached out for the doorknob.

The other two readied themselves for whatever might be on the other side.

Instead, it was the top of staircase leading downward.

Timo shuffled forward and peered down the edge. "It's the same as the one we came up."

Meldia frowned at the walls around them in this area. "No, it's not. I think we're somewhere else."

"But we've just crossed the room. How can we be in another place?"

Balin glanced back inside the open door. "Look at the room now."

Timo turned and gaped. "What the?"

Meldia moved forward again. "It's turning the opposite way."

Balin nodded. "And the colors have changed. They were blue and gold and then now they are red and black."

Timo groaned at the stairs. "Not again."

Balin reached out for Timo's hand. "I'll take pity on you this time."

Timo rolled his eyes in response.

*********

Edric and Alywin landed in front of the tower. He walked over to the door on the outside. "What is the purpose of such a thing?'

Alywin blinked as Edric talked to emptiness. "Seeing as I can't see what you can, I assume you're talking about something."

"Yes, there's a large door on the outside of this tower. The tower itself goes to the sky. At least, it appears that way."

Alywin looked up to the sky of the Ermu realm. Nothing but a red sky and burning sun greeted him. "Well, that's interesting. The sky for this realm would go into the god realm. Maybe this tower allows you to get to it. That would be odd, but I wouldn't put it past my elders to do such a thing."

Edric reached for the doorknob just as it started turning on its own. He backed away from it and dashed over to the side out of site. "Get over here, Alywin! Someone is coming out."

Alywin rolled his eyes and stayed in place. "I'm not afraid of anyone."

The door opened and Alywin gaped at those within.

*********


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Elias are missing, but the others might have found what they've been searching for. Will they be able to free what's inside or will it annihilate them in the process?

Tony frowned in Elias' direction, seeing yet another wince cross Elias' face. He wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not. Elias seemed to be intense pain the further they went into the forest. It wasn't really helping, but Tony wasn't sure how to get back out of it again.

Elias stopped to catch his breath, slumping against a tree and clenching at his middle.

Tony stroked Elias' head. "I'm sorry, I wanted to help you."

Elias grit his teeth. "I know, and I'm sorry too. We should have just returned to the fortress and told Timo what we discovered."

Tony wrapped his arms around Elias' body to hold him close. "I don't know how much further it is, but I don't want to hurt you anymore."

Elias winced and tried to stand upright. "No, we should continue on. We might as well finish what we started."

The frown on Tony's face deepened.

Elias smiled a little and touched the side of Tony's face. "Once we find her, it will be fine."

**********

Meldia blinked at the bright sun before looking at the man who was standing in front of the door. "Alywin?"

Alywin folded his arms across his chest. "Leave it to you to actually get up here without any god powers."

Meldia rolled her eyes. "Where are we?"

Alywin turned, motioning to the vast desert behind him. "Welcome to the realm of Ermu, or as most of the gods call it the Eternal Desert. It's red sand as far as the eye can see."

Timo frowned. "How were you able to see the tower? It's magically sealed."

Alywin nodded to someone out of view. "He could see it."

Meldia walked around Alywin to where he was nodding and stopped short. "It can't be."

Edric moved out from the shadows of the tower. "It is. And I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Is that all you can muster to say?"

Edric winced at the harshness of her voice. "What else do you want me to say? It was foolish of me to follow Damuo into the area beside the Heavenly realm without you. You have to know that seeing her again awoke things that I used to believe in."

"Yes, I know that. It doesn't excuse you getting yourself killed in the process or so I thought. How exactly did you manage to survive that attack?"

Edric nodded in the distance. "The King of Dragons saved me and for a while I rode on its back until we stopped here for a rest. He and the black dragon who guarded the Queen of Dragons were hunting for her. Blaxton and Alywin found us here and I saw the tower in the distance." He stopped to frown at her. "How did you get here?"

Balin stepped forward. "I am the start of that. While watching over the lower lands, I discovered other continents. One of them was a jungle forest. The other was a large desert filled with black sand. It was Meldia that saw the tower in the distance on the desert land."

Meldia shook her head. "I don't know how it worked, but once we crossed the upper room in that tower we were transported here. I believe the jungle forest probably connects to the jungle realm up here and there might be other continents that we didn't find yet that also connect to the upper realms."

Alywin frowned. "I wasn't aware of such a thing."

Timo scoffed. "I doubt you were. It's grand magic that's at work in them. At least inside the desert towers here and there. We can't even interact with it."

"For what purpose?"

Meldia shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe as a quick escape for the gods trying to get away. Or something else entirely."

*********

Henkka frowned at the dragon cages. He'd been trying to find Elias and Tony for good half an hour now.

He suspected they snuck out but he was going to make sure they were just off screwing in some random spot before alerting their lord.

With a sigh, he gave the green dragon one last pet before heading upstairs to see their lord Tommy.

Tommy was talking with Pasi when Henkka arrived. He glanced up when he heard the back door open. "What is it Henkka?"

"Tony and Elias are gone. They're not in their rooms or in the dragon cages."

Tommy leaned back in his chair with a groan. "Alert Marko. I believe he's outside talking with his men."

Henkka nodded and exited the room through the front doors.

Marko was indeed outside, but not with his men. He stood alone, looking up at the sky filled with dragons flying around.

Henkka stood beside him. "They're gone again."

Marko searched the sky for a red or brown dragon. "They might be flying with the other dragons. I saw Tony do that after they first appeared and then came back here again."

Henkka looked up at the hundreds of dragons in the sky. "That might be, but how do we get a message to them?"

Without thinking, Marko transformed into his gray dragon and zoomed into the air. It's then that he realized that he still hadn't told Henkka about it yet.

Judging by Henkka's gaping mouth on the ground, it was going to be a long conversation when it happened.

**********

Tony stopped short in front of a large step pyramid.

The sides held thick green vines and dark colored flowers, but the shape of it was unmistakable.

Elias blinked at it. "Is that a pyramid?"

Tony shuffled over to the side of it to see what was written on it. He frowned at the foreign language. "I can't read this writing. Must be really old."

Elias winced and moved over to look at it. "I can't read it either. Maybe it was who built this? It seems odd to place it in the middle of a jungle."

Tony looked up at the golden door at the top of the staircase in front. "I wonder if we should go around it."

Elias winced again. "We should go inside. I believe that's where she is."

Tony blinked at him. "How do you know that?"

"The pain is lessening the closer I get to it."

Tony walked over to the staircase. "Then let's get this over with."

**********

Henkka ran into Tommy's room. "Marko is a dragon?"

Tommy had been talking to Pasi and stopped mid-sentence. He sighed, turning to face Henkka. "He didn't tell you?"

Henkka shook his head. "No, he didn't."

Tommy sat back in his chair. "He was turned in the last war. Neither of us remembers the exact moment, but it was sometime before we escaped the fortress when it was still underground. Edric's men found us as dragons and brought us back to Artim. According to Timo, Edric changed us back into humans. Though we'll be like Tony and Elias with half of us still dragons."

Henkka frowned. "You're a dragon as well?"

Tommy looked over at Pasi and then nodded. "Yes, a yellow one. Marko is a gray one."

Henkka dropped to his knees. "Why didn't he tell me?"

Pasi moved out from behind Tommy's chair to kneel down beside Henkka. "The same reason Tommy didn't tell me at first - fear. Marko was probably afraid that you wouldn't love him anymore if he was half a dragon."

Tears gathered in Henkka's eyes. "I care about Tony and Elias and they're half dragons. Why would I love Marko any less?"

Marko appeared in the doorway. "Nobody ever said it was a smart fear. I thought maybe you'd be freaked out that I was a dragon so I never told you."

Henkka got up from the floor to stand in front of Marko. "Like I care about that. I assumed you were dead when I was being tortured. I didn't think I had anything to live for during that. When I found out you were alive, I realized I did have something to live for after all. I don't care if you're a dragon."

Marko bit his lip. "I'm sorry for not telling you. Most people don't know, to be honest, other than Tommy and Pasi. Not even my men know."

"Please don't keep stuff like this from me. What if you were injured as a dragon and I didn't know? How would I be able to heal you fully?"

Marko stared down at the floor. 

Henkka touched the side of Marko's face. "Look, just promise me that you'll let me know of anything else weird about you, ok?"

Marko smiled, leaning in to kiss Henkka's lips. "I promise."

Tommy cleared his throat. "Now that's taken care of. Did you find Tony and Elias?"

Marko looked at his lord. "No, but I have a feeling I know where they went. A good chunk of the dragons are heading south to a tropical land that has appeared. I don't know where it came from, but I believe Tony and Elias went that way. Their smells lead to it."

"A southern land? I don't know of this."

"Neither do I, but it's there now. I also noticed one to the east of it when I was following their scent. Timo's scent leads to that one. Though I didn't see them on the surface while flying over it."

Tommy sat back in his chair, shaking his head. "I don't understand where these lands have come from. Ours was the only one that I knew of."

*********

Timo, Meldia, Balin, Edric, and Alywin landed beside Blaxton and the two black dragons.

Blaxton's eyebrow rose at the sight of all of them. "Where did you three come from?"

Meldia sighed. "It's a long story, but I believe the lower lands are connected to these lands above. We're going to need to find the Queen of Dragons now."

"All of you? I doubt any of you have the stamina to fly that far."

Edric went over to the King of Dragons. "Do you mind helping us fly over there? We'll leave your back when we arrive so you can have a chance to defend your mother."

The King of Dragons roared out a response.

Edric turned to Blaxton. "What did he say?"

Blaxton blinked at it. "He says he'd be happy to carry you and the others."

"Why is that so surprising?"

Blaxton crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, he's not usually ferrying people around. He's the King of Dragons for a reason."

Edric scratched the King of Dragons' head. "Maybe I've left an impression on him."

The King of Dragons roared, licking Edric's face with his large tongue.

Timo laughed at Edric's shocked expression. "He likes you. You must have done something for him in the past."

Edric pointed at the ground. "Water. I forgot to give you more water."

The King of Dragons roared and started lapping it up.

Timo moved over to stand next to Edric. "That right there is worth all of the devotion in the world to dragons. You cared for them which means they know you won't leave them to die later."

The black dragon roared in agreement before getting some water for himself.

Meldia looked at Edric. "Now that's settled, let's devise a plan of attack."

**********

Tony stopped short at the golden door, which was now wide open. It hadn't been when he was on the ground below looking up. He was about to enter when Elias fell to his knees in pain.

Elias held onto his middle, tears rolling down his face. "No, please, no. Leave her alone."

Tony touched Elias' shoulder. "Her? Is that your mother?"

Elias shook his head. "I can't do this. I can't...."

Tony sat down on the ground and pulled Elias into his arms. "Are they hurting her?"

Elias nodded.

"What are we going to do, Elias? Even if we find her, how can we defeat a god?"

Elias winced. "I don't know but we have to go inside this place."

Tony frowned as Elias stumbled to his feet. "What we have to do is go back home. I shouldn't have let it go this far. Come on, let's leave."

Elias' eyes widened.

Tony turned to see a giant hand reach for both of them, pulling them inside in one fell swoop.

The stone door to the temple slammed shut behind them.

***********

The King of Dragons took to the air with Edric and Meldia on his back. Timo followed them on the black dragon's back.

Balin, Alywin, and Blaxton followed to the sides.

None of them knew how long it would take to get to the Queen of Dragons or even where she was.

The two dragons and Blaxton were still following her scent, but she could be in any of the remaining eight realms. Most were many thousands of miles away from each other. Had they not being following an actual trail, Blaxton and Alywin could have warped to each spot to find her.

Assuming the God of Chaos would even let them enter said realm.

There was no way that he hadn't fortified wherever he was with some sort of magical spell or one of the grand spells that he knew.

The gods had limited his powers, but as they were missing now he could easily find ways of working around that.

*********

Tony landed hard into the bottom of some kind of room. He gasped for a breath and stumbled to his feet.

His eyes widened at the realization that he was trapped in some sort of large birdcage. It was not much bigger than he was standing up, covered in rows of metal bars on all sides.

He looked out the metal bars and moaned. To his left was Elias in the same kind of cage. Both were floating the air above an ornate altar.

On top of the altar was the Queen of Dragons, tied to it with massive chains over every inch of her body. She glanced up at both of them and frowned or for as much as a dragon could.

Tony swallowed hard and called out to Elias. "You knew we were going to be trapped."

Elias leaned against the bars to look over at Tony. "Yes, he was threatening me via her words to me. She was ordered to bring me to him. I'm sorry, I should have been stronger."

Tears gathered in Tony's eyes. "It's not your fault, I wasn't even strong enough to stop the pain."

A menacing face of a man appeared behind the altar. "Silence, you foolish humans. I didn't bring you here so you could have a friendly chat."

Tony rolled his eyes at the face and went back to talking with Elias. "What a waste of space. All of this because I killed his power-hungry son."

The face snorted and something else appeared under them near the Queen of Dragons. "My son is still alive, you fool. You can't kill a demigod with fire."

Tony laughed. "He's only a shell of his former self anyway, like he was the last time. Light Magic users destroyed his original body fifteen years ago. I'm not scared of ghosts."

The see-through form of Metoes zoomed up to Tony's cage. "You are pathetic, son of Alywin. Just like your father."

"I could say the same about you."

Metoes entered Tony's cage eyes blazing. "You are not a demigod anymore. I could kill you right now and there's nothing you could do about it."

Tony grinned. "You could, but I doubt you want the wrath of my father on your trail. He would finish you off without even breaking a sweat. Not to mention my grandfather as well."

Metoes snorted, leaving Tony's cage and pointing in the distance. "You mean that pathetic old man?"

Tony gaped at the tied up and unconscious form of his grandfather, the supreme god.

"Not so sure of yourself anymore, are you? Humans are too easily broken, just like their stupid dragons."

Tony glared at Metoes. "At least I've felt love. I doubt you have."

"Love is a worthless emotion for foolish humans. It is nothing more than that."

Tony shrugged. "Maybe, but it's given me more life than you will ever know."

The face behind the altar called out. "Silence! I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth or I will ruin everything you hold dear starting with the son of Arric.

Tony glanced over at Elias who was looking back at him with fear in his eyes. He sighed to himself and bit his tongue.

Though he didn't know how long it would last.

**********

The King of Dragons roared and everyone stopped short.

Alywin blinked at the large structure. "What is that?"

Blaxton cocked his head to the side. "It's a diamond shape, hovering over the jungle realm of Xungla.

Timo frowned. "Jungle realm?" He turned to Meldia. "Like the one we found first?"

Balin swore. "We could have found her hours before this had we known that."

Alywin shook his head. "Somehow I doubt the God of Chaos would have let you waltz right in. Assuming that's where he is."

The King of Dragons breathed in deep and then exhaled. He roared at Blaxton.

Blaxton sighed. "He says the Queen of Dragons is in there."

Alywin floated a little closer to it. "The question now is how do we get inside of it? Those doors on the front don't look they open."

Balin moved next to Alywin. "I could investigate the sides of it. Maybe we can get in there."

Edric sighed, and then nodded. "Very well, be careful."

Balin zoomed off to the left.

***********

Elias leaned up against the bars, his middle searing under his skin. He thought being here would abate it but it hadn't. Maybe he was feeling the pain his mother was experiencing.

He staggered to stand upright in his cage, the stabbing pain getting worse.

Tony called out to the altar. "Stop torturing him, you coward!"

The face behind the altar appeared again. "I am not torturing him. She is."

Tony looked down at the Queen of Dragons, her sad face looking up at him. "It can't be. She would never harm her son."

"Then maybe you don't know her as well you thought."

Tony glared at the face. "Or maybe you just want me to believe she's doing it. You're probably torturing her right now and Elias is feeling it."

The face grinned, its massive white teeth gleaming in the distance. "Maybe I am."

"Well stop it! She's done nothing to you or anyone else."

The face sneered and a whoosh of air knocked Tony back against the metal bars. "Silence, son of Alywin. I'm tired of listening to your voice."

Tony coughed, blood forming in his mouth. He stumbled to his feet again, holding onto the bars. "You'll have to do a lot more than that to silence me."

Elias grimaced. "Tony, stop riling him up. It serves no purpose."

Tony shook his head. "If it stops him hurting her, then it serves a purpose."

The face was replaced by a massive hand that flicked through the air.

Tony shook in place, his hands glued to the bars as high voltages of electricity raced through it. Eventually the force of it pushed him back and onto the ground. His body spasmed out of control, his legs and arms flaying around.

Elias called out. "Tony! Tony, can you hear me?"

There was no answer.

*********

Balin called out to them when he reappeared. "You need to see this. Be very careful around the front area."

The large dragons moved slowly to the left without crossing the front of the structure. Followed by Alywin and Blaxton.

Edric gaped at the sight when they got close enough. "It can't be."

There before them was a row of large gods attached to the side of the structure. They were all unconscious, but glowing a dark light.

Alywin shook his head. "He couldn't have done this. How did he do this?"

Blaxton turned to look at the side of the structure. "Alywin, do you recognize this object?"

Alywin looked at where Blaxton was looking. "I don't believe so."

"It's the Divine Nature. The one used to make realms."

Alywin's eyes went wide. "No, it can't be."

"It is, but not used like this. Usually it's operated by a few gods, but this must be all of them."

Alywin zoomed away to investigate the back of it.

Edric frowned at Blaxton. "The Divine Nature? Does this mean he has the ability to annihilate the realms like his son did?"

"In a way, but instead of annihilating everything at once and then remaking it this device does it one at a time. For instance, he could destroy Dracona and immediately remake it again into something else. His son's abilities were all or nothing."

Alywin came back to them white as a sheet. "He has all of the gods. They line the sides and back."

Blaxton cocked his head to the side. "Your father as well?"

"I didn't see him, but it would make sense that he's inside. He has the most powers and he might even be used to make the whole thing run. While these gods are linked to something else."

Meldia pointed to the top and bottom of the structure. "He's either taking or feeding the highest and lowest realms with this device. I wonder if that's the grand spells we saw in the desert tower?"

"Probably. It channeled all of the power for more energy to be in multiple places at once. Maybe only a part of the God of Chaos is inside this?"

Blaxton sighed. "Then this really just holds the Queen of Dragons and the supreme god."

Timo shrugged. "We won't know for sure until we get inside. The problem is how do we do that?"

Edric looked at the side of the structure. "Notice how they are all linked together by their hands and feet. I wonder if breaking that connection would free them and stop the God of Chaos?"

Meldia waved her hand in the air. "It's grand magic though. We can't interact with it."

"I know that, but look where the links are going. See that box shape to the right of the closest god?"

All eyes turned to look where Edric pointed.

Alywin stared at it. "There's one of those on the other sides too. I wonder if they're storing energy, maybe linking up to those inside."

"Exactly. If we were to take out one of those boxes or possibly all of them, then the energy would flow out here or stop entirely."

Alywin frowned at Edric. "But how do we do that? None of us can launch a thin blast at something."

Balin moved forward. "I can. I could easily take out the boxes if that's what you want me to do."

Meldia turned to Edric. "What if that doesn't work?"

Edric shrugged. "Then we try something else."

**********

Elias frowned at Tony's cage. It hadn't moved since that blast hit Tony. Was he dead?

The pain in his middle ramped up, forcing him to his knees again. It pulled at his insides as if they were made of paper.

A voice appeared in Elias' head and said, "Elias. Can you hear me?"

Elias answered back with a whisper, "Mother?"

"Yes, it is me. I have to tell you something before the God of Chaos comes back. That pull inside is your body evolving. You have to let it happen or it will destroy you."

Elias mouthed, "Evolving?"

"Yes, you are evolving into your true form - one the God of Chaos believes he can control. I don't believe he can, as your form is not like other dragons. You are my son, therefore half of what I am."

Elias sat down on the floor. "I'm scared."

"I know you are, I can feel as much. Just because I'm far below you doesn't mean I can't feel the fear inside of you. I can also feel the changes and you have to let them happen."

Elias shook his head. "I don't know if I can do this."

"You must or it will destroy you. I doubt Tony would want that."

Elias opened his mouth to respond when he saw Tony's cage shake. He winced and got to his feet to see a large hand shaking it. "Stop that."

The face appeared behind the altar again. "I will do as I please. Not that he's much fun to play with now. Probably dead by his own foolishness."

Elias backed away from the bars. "Dead? That means he's really dead. He doesn't have the god part to die away anymore."

"That's right. The insignificant son of Alywin is no more and soon neither will be Alywin himself. I will see to that once we're done."

Elias slipped down to his knees again. "Tony's dead. My Tony, he was supposed to be with me forever."

"You really are pathetic, aren't you? Grieving over a worthless human like that."

Elias felt his middle pull at him so hard, he heaved on the ground in front of him.

It really was trying to destroy him.

Elias shook his head, tears weaving down his face. He wasn't strong enough to stop others from destroying Tony the first two times. Maybe he was strong enough this time.

"You are worthless, aren't you? Your foolish father only mated with your mother to create a pawn. That's all you are, Elias."

Elias' body shook, the pain was overwhelming now, pushing him in and out of consciousness.

It's then that he finally let go, his body shimmering into his brown dragon form.

The last thing he remembered was the power flowing through his veins.

***********

Balin shook his head. "It's not working. I'm not damaging it at all."

Edric sat back on the King of Dragons. "We need another plan."

There was silence between them.

Timo cocked his head to the side. "Wait, am I imaging things or is the structure shaking?"

Blaxton reached out for the structure. "You are correct. It is shaking but from what?"

Alywin rubbed his chin. "A battle inside? Maybe the Queen of Dragons escaped?"

The King of Dragons roared at the mention of her name.

Blaxton sighed at him. "There's no way to get inside, my son. If she is, then she will fight with all her heart as she's always done."

**********


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle has begun. Will it be the end of this madness or will something interfere on behalf of humanity?

Elias' metal cage shattered into a million pieces and rained down on the altar that held the Queen of Dragons. She stared up at the aftermath and smiled.

The face grinned behind the altar. "Ah, there you are Elias. Finally I can use you to destroy them all."

Elias' roared and belched fire towards the screen behind the altar. His body had quadrupled in size, now bigger than his eldest brother the King of Dragons. The massive area he viewed from his cage was barely able to hold his large form.

The face rolled its eyes. "Stay still, you fool!"

Elias blew fire in every direction of the container, lighting everything that wasn't metal on fire.

A large hand appeared and pushed Elias' body back against one of the sides hard. "Behave! You are under my control."

Elias took one look at the hand and tried to bite it before it disappeared from view.

A voice appeared in Elias' head, "Elias, burn those boxes at the corners of the room. They're near the middle of the wall. They control his power."

Elias blinked at the voice as if not knowing who it was.

"It's your mother below you. Listen to me and not him. He only wants you for selfish means."

Elias looked down at the chained dragon. He roared and dived down to claw at the chains that bind it.

The face appeared again. "No, you don't."

Elias hit one of the boxes that lined the room, smacked back by a large hand. He shook his head and move away from it when it started shooting weird things out of it.

**********

Timo pointed at the opening on the side. "What is that?"

Blaxton moved over to the part. "I believe it's an opening."

Timo turned to Balin and said, "Fire into that!"

Balin focused the magic inside and aimed for the opening.

The box shattered into the void, making the dark lights around the gods' hands and feet flicker.

Alywin raced over to the closest one. He touched the god's face. "Alint, can you hear me?"

The god's blue eyes fluttered open. He looked down at his bound hands and feet. "What is the meaning of this?"

"The God of Chaos is using your energy and everyone else to destroy everything."

Alint closed up his hands, yanking his arms away from the structure. "That foolish idiot is going to pay for that."

The gods next to him began to wake up and break free.

Alywin grinned at the others. "I believe we've even the sides now."

*********

"No, it can't be!" screamed the face behind the altar.

Elias yanked on the chains covering the Queen of Dragons, ripping them apart and off her. The Queen of Dragons roared at the face behind the altar when she got free.

"You two can't escape from here. Even with them waking up. You will be destroyed with it."

Elias roared at the Queen of Dragons and she nodded at him in response.

Both zoomed into the air and began destroying the walls of the container, clawing off the devices that kept it all together.

"I don't think so."

The giant hand tried to stop them but they blocked its grasp. Elias finally turned and dive-bombed the screen behind the altar, shattering it into pieces and making a large human appear in its place.

Elias leaned back and belched fire at it.

"I am your master and you will behave!"

Elias noticed movement from the corner of its eyes and looked up. The older man tied up above him smiled. He blinked at it, confused by the smile.

The older man freed hands and smacked them together.

It was then that the ship blew apart.

**********

One minute the two dragons, Balin, Alywin, and Blaxton were outside of the ship and the next flung backward at a high speed.

The King of Dragons and the black dragon struggled to keep upright, making sure the passengers on them were not tossed into the void.

Alywin tried his best to make sure everyone was still there before zooming over to a cage floating in the air. Something about it was pulling him closer. He peered inside and gasped. "Tony!"

Blaxton zoomed over to the other side of it and helped pry it open.

The King of Dragons roared and flew over as Alywin pulled Tony's body out of it.

Meldia waved her hands over him. "Come on, Tony. We're not going to go through this again with you dying. It's getting very predictable."

A golden light bathed them as a hand touched Tony's head. "You did good, Tony. It finally unlocked Elias."

Timo frowned. "Elias? He's here?"

Alywin turned to gape at a massive brown dragon looming over them. "I believe I found him."

Timo's eyes widened. "Is that Elias?"

The god bathed in a golden light nodded. "Yes, in his final form. Metoes was hoping to unlock this form of Elias originally, but he didn't have Elias long enough to do so. Peoter was then ordered to turn Elias into a dragon, so it would start this process. The last version of Metoes didn't get his hands on Elias, so the God of Chaos decided to do it himself. What he didn't realize is a dragon son of the Queen of Dragons can't be controlled."

"But the King of Dragons was controlled and he's her son."

"He's her son with a god. Elias is her son with a human. There's a big difference."

Timo frowned. "You would think humans would be the more coercible in this case."

"They would be but as Elias was also the son of a Light Magic user, one who knew what he was doing when he put a spell on Elias' body, inhibiting his transformation. The spell could only be broken by the Queen of Dragons which is exactly what happened inside the Divine Nature."

Timo looked up at Elias' massive form. "Will he be like Tony was when he died the first time?"

The god shook his head. "No, he is the same Elias as before. He just has a much stronger form now. Basically, he's like the Queen of Dragons."

"Meaning he won't die?"

The god smiled. "He will die at some point, just like she will. The purple dragon in Tony's cages is proof of that."

"Then why is he looking down at us like he doesn't know us?"

The god looked up at Elias. "I've healed him again. Your mate is safe."

Elias sighed, shimming into his human form and falling into the void. 

Blaxton zoomed over to catch him before he disappeared. "Next time tell him to wait until someone is nearby!"

The god turned when Alint called him over. "Oh good, you managed to get him before he escaped."

Another god flew up with the ghostlike version of Metoes.

The supreme god looked at both of them. "I believe I've given both of you enough chances to right your ways, and yet you persist in ignoring them. I've lost my patience now and others have as well. This time, you won't be able to do what you've done again."

Blaxton scoffed behind them. "He will always cause havoc. Chaos is in his name."

"That is true, and really I should have known better than to let him get away with things unheeded, but not anymore. You two will be turned into humans for all time. No more magical powers or spells in your heads. You will live your lives out on the desert continent on the lower lands."

With a wave of his hand, both turned into human males. The God of Chaos sneered at the supreme god and tried to tell him that he would be back again.

But nothing came out.

The god grinned. "Did you really think I'd allow a former Dark Magic user to have a voice? I may have let things slip before but not this time. Goodbye Metoes and his father the former God of Chaos. May your life be as hellish as you've put upon us."

With an upturn of his hand, their bodies scattered through the air to the lower lands below.

*********

Meldia frowned at the doorway of Tony and Elias' room. "Why haven't they woken up? I've healed both of them."

Timo glanced over at Elias' body, which was now too big for the bed. He was almost the same size as Alywin was. The supreme god told them it was part of unlocking his final form.

Still, Elias was over seven feet tall compared to Tony's shorter size. Timo wondered if Tony would freak out in the prospect of his mate being so huge now.

Edric appeared to the side of Meldia. "They haven't woken up yet?"

"No, and I don't know why. Their bodies are healed. I went over them with my team for hours making sure we found everything. Tony had a serious concussion and an almost broken neck. Along with cracked ribs and bleeding inside."

"Is that all?"

Meldia rolled her eyes at Edric. "Elias didn't have any damage other than exhaustion. It's been two days, he should have recovered from that."

A roar sounded behind them.

Meldia turned and gaped.

There before them was the Queen of Dragons.

Meldia looked over at the man dressed in red velvet. "Why didn't you take her to the dragon cages?"

"She won't fit in those. Neither will the two black dragons. They are too big for any confinement."

Queen of Dragons moved forward and roared at them.

Meldia turned to Timo. "What does she want?"

Timo smiled and said, "She wants to see her son. I believe she can help them."

The three moved to the side, watching the Queen of Dragons grunt and turn sideways to try to enter the small room. She roared at it and shoved harder.

Timo laughed at the cracks forming along the walls. "I don't believe you'll be able to fit."

Queen of Dragons gave him a pained look and tried again. She shoved the walls to the side, leaving a gaping hole on both sides.

Meldia groaned.

Timo patted Meldia on the arm. "We can fix it once they fix our realm."

Queen of Dragons picked up Tony from his bed and laid him on her belly. She gave his head a lick, focusing her energy on him and making the whole room glow a brilliant blue.

Meldia frowned at it. "Is she healing him?"

Timo nodded. "In a way, yes. Probably repairing anything concerning his dragon part. I don't know how the God of Chaos had him inside the Divine Nature other than in that cage. He could have been suppressing Tony's ability to turn into a dragon."

The blue light subsided and the Queen of Dragons gave Tony's head one more lick before placing him back in bed. 

She reached out for her son Elias and gave him a lick. The blue light returned, but this time Elias' body began to shrink down to his original size.

Edric cocked his head to the side. "Is she locking his final form again? She's the one who unlocked it the first time."

Timo shrugged. "I guess so. It really isn't needed anymore since Metoes and the God of Chaos are humans now and no threat."

Queen of Dragons licked Elias' head as his size went back to normal. She cradled him close and murmured to him.

Elias moaned, cracking his eyes open. He looked up into a pair of large blue eyes. "Mother?"

Queen of Dragons gave his head another lick.

Elias smiled at it. "You're always licking our heads."

She spoke in his head, "You are warm and I want to cool you off. Your body was with fever while in your final form."

Elias blinked at her. "Final form?"

Timo scoffed. "Are you chatting with your mother?"

Elias turned his head and realized they weren't in Dracona but inside a small room with two beds. He flushed at Meldia's amused glance. "Yes, I was. She talks in my head. Though I'm confused by this final form."

"Well, let's just say you didn't even fit into your bed anymore before she fixed you."

Blaxton appeared behind them. "And was at least four times bigger than any dragon. Including the King of Dragons."

Elias' eyes went wide. "I was?"

Queen of Dragons touched the top of Elias' head with her paw to talk through him. "You were. It's what Metoes and his father the God of Chaos were desperate to get their hands on. Too bad they didn't realize that I could unlock parts of it without them knowing. I unlocked it, but I wiped away the human part so they couldn't control him. That's why he slept for so long after you brought him here."

Meldia nodded to Tony. "What about Tony?"

"Tony was under my control as well. I made him act out in defiance so he would get Elias to finally unlock his form. Sadly it has to be under extreme stress for Elias to stop trying to ignore it."

Elias frowned at his mother. "You purposely riled me up to get me to turn?"

Queen of Dragons nodded and spoke through him again. "Yes, it was part of the spell. You can blame your father for that one, as he was the original caster of it. Probably when you were a baby."

Edric blinked. "But how is it that we didn't notice it was on him? We're higher ranking Light Magic users than Arric ever was."

"It was not solely Light Magic. He mixed it with lower levels of Dark Magic so Metoes would think he'd have an easy access to Elias' final form. He was wrong as he couldn't get past the Light Magic part."

Timo sighed. "And since he's already full of Dark Magic from being transformed into a dragon and when he was tortured in the dungeons, we wouldn't even notice it. If I didn't hate Arric for this treatment of his son, I would say it was an ingenious way to do it."

Edric shook his head. "Light Magic users can't use Dark Magic. That's the whole point of having two magic types - they don't interact together. How was he able to mix them?"

Meldia nodded. "That is true, but she said low level Dark Magic like making people mute and such. It's not exactly allowed, but he could have gotten away with something like that. He even could have used the type of magic Henrik uses to conjure up a magical potion that appeared to be Dark Magic and do it that way."

Tony chose that moment to wake up. He blinked at the ornate ceiling. "Where am I?"

Timo laughed at him. "Where else? The golden castle of Artim."

Tony's eyes widened when he noticed the Queen of Dragons. "You're here too?"

Queen of Dragons turned and licked Tony's head, speaking in his mind, "My realm is gone so I have nowhere else to go."

"The gods aren't remaking Dracona?"

Blaxton laughed at him. "They are, but it will take time. Dracona is a large area to replace again, especially without the Divine Nature. They will have to create another or just do it one section at a time. As it is, all of us are displaced at the moment. We will have to stay on the lower lands until it is completed."

Tony sighed and then smiled. "I will get to see my mother one last time after all."

Alywin waltzed into the area and moved over to the crowded doorway. "What's everyone looking at?"

Tony blinked at his father's face. "Will you come with me to Sommer?"

Alywin's eyebrow rose. "Sommer? Isn't that the village that was destroyed by Peoter Botov?"

"It was but now it holds most of the inhabitants of the Heavenly realm."

Alywin frowned at Tony. "Why would I want to go there?"

Tony sat up in bed. "To see my mother again."

**********

Alywin landed with Tony in front of the Sommer village entrance. He turned to sigh at Tony. "I don't know about this. She was very upset when I told her I was a god and that it was a one-time occurrence. I doubt she wants to see me again."

"Maybe, but I believe time heals wounds."

Alywin shook his head. "Not these kind of wounds. This was a mistake to come here."

Tony looked his father in the eyes. "You care of her, true?"

Alywin bit his lip. "Yes, I did."

"You don't anymore?"

Alywin looked to the side. "I still do care of her. She gave me a son whom I'm eternally grateful for."

"That's all?"

Alywin sighed at his son. "She's dead, Tony. You and I both know that. Even if I see her again, nothing of that fact will change."

"Then don't go in."

Alywin blinked at Tony as he walked away. "Then why bring me here?"

Tony turned at the entrance. "To allow you to see her again. If you don't want to, that is your choice. I for one want to see her again one last time."

**********

Avelina was waiting for her son by the well. She smiled when he came into view. "Tony, you've come back to see me."

Tony walked into her outstretched arms. "I had to see you again before they took you back."

"I am happy that you've returned if only for a while. Did you bring Elias with you?"

Tony flushed. "No, I forgot about that. He's going back to the fortress with his mother."

"You are still afraid for us to meet?"

Tony breathed in her scent. "No, it's not that. I just didn't remember you asking for him. Instead, I brought someone else. Though I don't know if he will come inside."

Avelina cocked her head to the side. "Who did you bring?"

"He brought me."

Avelina froze at the sound of the deep voice. "It can't be."

"Our son is persistent, a bit like his father."

Avelina shook her head. "He is nothing like his father."

"Actually he is like him in many ways. The devotion and love he bestows upon those he cares about, the way he fights to protect them at all costs. Even dying for them in some cases."

Avelina looked up at Alywin. "That is what you want to see, nothing more."

"Maybe, but I'm proud of him nevertheless. He is all I could ask for in a son. You gave me that, despite the circumstances involved. I will always be grateful for it."

Avelina frowned. "That's all I was to you - someone to have your child with. Like the nine others before me."

Alywin shook his head. "I wasn't intending for our joining to produce a child. In fact, it was the same with the women proceeding you. It just happened, for better or worse."

"And you treated me like all of the rest. You haven't changed, Alywin."

Alywin bit his lip. "I haven't mated with anyone after you. I could have but I didn't. There's no point when you've found something that is irreplaceable."

Avelina stared at Alywin in shock.

Tony pulled his head up. "He was locked away for 30 years."

"Yes, I was but ever since I've been out I've realized how much of my life was wasted by selfish pursuits. I've forgotten how to appreciate life as it is instead of what I want it to be. Our son taught me that."

Tony blinked. "I did?"

Alywin smiled at him. "You did. Getting to know you and Elias has brought a lot of joy to my life. Well, when you're not doing foolish things that Meldia screams at me about at least."

Tony looked up at his mother. "See, he has changed a little. He's not perfect but neither am I."

Avelina sighed at Alywin. "You know that I will go back to the Heavenly realm after this."

"Yes I do, but maybe if you'll let me I'd like to get a chance to know you more. You've given me so much with Tony and I haven't held up my part. I'd like to do that now."

Tony smiled between them.

*********

Elias pushed past the fortress guards with his mother in tow. He entered their lord's room and bowed respectfully.

Tommy's eyebrow rose at it, but then it turned to shock when he spotted the large blue dragon behind him. "What is that?"

Elias scoffed. "That is my mother - Queen of Dragons."

"The Queen of Dragons? You found her?"

Elias nodded, smiling when she moved to stand beside him. "Yes, she'll go back to Dracona once it gets rebuilt, but first she needs to see someone."

Pasi popped his head out from behind Tommy's chair to get a look. "Wow, she's bigger than I imagined."

Queen of Dragons roared at him and Pasi darted back behind Tommy's chair.

Elias laughed. "She just telling you that a small dragon could not lead her kind successfully."

Tommy sighed. "I assume she wants to see the purple dragon?"

"Yes, and I plan to take her down there myself, but I wanted you to meet her first. You've never been to Dracona, so it's not like you'll get another chance."

Tommy bowed his head to the Queen of Dragons. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Queen of Dragons. I'd like to think I've done my best to keep your son safe over the years, as I will continue to do so until he leaves us."

Queen of Dragons bowed back. She touched the top of Elias' head with her paw to speak through him. "I am thankful for your protection, son of Eino. My son is very important to the realms and his safety is paramount. I know he has been led astray a few times but I believe he doesn't do it intentionally."

Tommy laughed. "More like he's been coerced by Tony Kakko. Those two together are like little children hellbent on destruction."

Elias made a face.

Queen of Dragons laughed through Elias. "That too. The son of Alywin is just like his father in many ways. Both will calm down as they age. They're still in their infancy compared to us."

"Actually Tony is older than me. I took over for my father at fifteen."

Queen of Dragons blinked at him. "You are younger than they are? You do not portray that youngness. My pardons for thinking so."

Tommy smiled. "I'll take that as a compliment. I never really had the opportunity to be a wild one during the first war down here. Maybe that's aged me more than I like, but I have to be brave for my people."

"You do indeed. Thank you for watching over my son and his mate."

*********

Going down the basement hallways proved to be challenging with a large blue dragon, but Elias made it work.

He stopped at the door to the cages and smiled. The seven dragons were playing in the middle with the purple dragon.

Queen of Dragons roared at them, mostly to get their attention and let them know she was near.

The purple dragon blinked and turned around. She let out a small roar and bound over to the door, rubbing along it.

Elias pushed them both back so he could open the door to let her outside.

Queen of Dragons scooped up her daughter and held her close.

The rest of the dragons sat on their haunches and watched the Queen of Dragons lick her daughter amid her chirps.

The purple dragon looked over at Elias and roared.

Elias smiled. "I told you we'd find her for you. Though I had a lot of help from your older brothers who can't come down here. They'd never fit."

Queen of Dragons smiled and gave the purple dragon's head a lick. She roared at the dragons watching them.

Elias laughed. "It's mostly the green dragon who has been looking out for her. The rest will have to go back to Dracona."

Queen of Dragons set her daughter on the ground and moved into the dragon cages. She touched the red dragon on the head, making the room glow blue for a few seconds.

"What are you doing?"

One by one, the Queen of Dragons touched each of their heads, causing a blue light to appear.

She moved back outside of the cages and talked in Elias' head, "They don't have to go back to Dracona now. I've granted them another life to live here. Now that Metoes and his father have no power, they are no longer in danger of dying again. They should live out their lives with the one they care about the most - your mate Tony."

Tears formed in Elias' eyes. "You didn't have to do that."

Queen of Dragons gave Elias' head a lick. "Yes, I did. The green dragon is lonely and deserves to have some company again. It's a shame that most of the dragons were killed off or she'd have more playmates."

The green dragon roared at the Queen of Dragons.

Queen of Dragons nodded and roared back.

Elias smiled between them and couldn't wait to tell Tony that his dragons weren't going anywhere again.

*********

The first realm completed by the gods was Dracona, sending all 10,000 dragons back to their home again.

Elias touched his mother the Queen of Dragons one last time before she went on with the purple dragon and the black dragon back to her den. She gave his head a lick and told him to be careful.

Artim was the second realm to be finished, taking the golden castle of the Light Magic users back up into the clouds again. Though Edric, Meldia, and Timo stayed on the lower lands to make sure everything had been taken up and restored.

The jungle continent to the south remained in its place, just without the dragons to roam it. Tony wondered if the pyramid temple was still there, but he didn't want to venture into that forest ever again to find out.

The desert continent to the southeast also remained, but it was now a forbidden zone as that's where Metoes and the former God of Chaos were. Tony asked his grandfather if it was wise to leave them there, all he got in response was laughter.

The Heavenly realm was the final one to be completed. Tommy, Tony, and Edric gathered at Sommer to see their perspective women off.

Tommy hugged his mother with tears in his eyes. "I wish I'd been able to know you."

Tommy's mother smiled down at him. "As do I. Though I get to watch you from above and what I have seen so far makes me very proud."

Tommy sighed and let go. Pasi gripped his shoulder tight as his mother vanished through the hole by the well.

Edric stroked the side of his wife's face. "I don't want you to go, but I know that I have to. I just wish there was a way for us to be together again."

Edric's wife leaned up to kiss Edric's lips. "I will always be with you, and watching what you do with the rest of your life. I have to believe the gods will bring you back to me when your life is over."

Edric held his wife close.

Edric's wife smiled at the action. "Farewell, Edric."

With a sigh, he let go of his wife. Tears rolled down his face as she disappeared into the ground.

**********

Avelina hugged Tony tight. "I have to leave you again, Tony. Though it was good to finally meet Elias."

Tony flushed and held onto her.

Avelina looked over at Alywin. "Take care of our son, Alywin. He is very precious to me."

"He's very precious to me as well. I will do everything in my power to ensure he is safe. With Metoes and his father banished, I believe that he is safer now than ever."

Elias touched Tony's arm.

Tony let go of his mother, tears running down his face. "I don't want you to leave again."

Avelina reached out to brush the tears off. "I will always be with you. Never forget that."

Tony moved back from his mother.

Alywin approached Avelina.

Avelina sighed at him. "You make it very hard to be mad at you anymore."

Alywin smiled, pulling her into his arms and holding her tight. "I'd like to think it's part of my charm."

"A charm that dazzled me so many decades ago."

Alywin leaned down to kiss Avelina's cheek. "Charm is never lost over the years, just more refined."

Avelina touched the side of Alywin's face. "Indeed it has. You have changed, that much is true. Whether it's for the better is to be determined."

Alywin chuckled and kissed Avelina's lips. They pulled back and looked into each other's eyes while smiling.

Tony touched over his heart.

*********

Tony stood outside of the dragon cages, watching them play with each other in the open area. The formerly dead dragons didn't seem to have the same disposition as they did when they were alive. Now they liked to play and sleep with the green dragon as if they were young dragons.

As Timo said, they didn't have any interest in eating. Some tried to at first and then just left it uneaten. 

The green dragon didn't mind eating what they left over and gobbling up her part as well.

Tony smiled when they all mock roared at each other and then curled up to take a nap. He chuckled at the annoyed look the green dragon gave him before curling up with the yellow dragon.

"They're like little children."

Tony turned his head and smiled as arms wrapped around his waist from behind. "Pretty much. They were like this when I was in Dracona for a year. Always playing and then nap times when they got tired." 

Lips kissed the side of Tony's neck. "Seems like a good idea to me."

Tony grinned. "It does, doesn't it? We might have to try it out."

"Pretty sure we already do."

Tony laughed. "I don't think we've played as dragons."

Elias' eyebrow rose.

Tony turned in Elias' arms and wiggled his eyebrows.

Elias grinned.

Tony got out of Elias' arms and turned into his red dragon.

Elias shimmered into his brown dragon and roared at Tony. Tony roared back and zoomed past Elias.

The green dragon looked up in time to see Elias roar and chase after Tony. She snorted smoke out of her nose and went back to sleep.

THE END


End file.
